METHODS OF INSTRUCTION 



THAT PART OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION WHICH 

TREATS OF THE NATURE OF THE SEVERAL BRANCHES 

OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE METHODS OF TEACHING 

THEM ACCORDING TO THAT NATURE. 



BY 

JAMES PYLE WICKERSHAM, A.M., 

PRINCIPAL OF THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, MILLERSVILLK, 
PENNSYLVANIA; AND AUTHOR OF "SCHOOL ECONOMY." 



"The method of nature is the archetype of all methods." — Marcel. 

"Man cannot propose a higher and holier ohject for his study, than education, 
and all that appertains to education." — Cousin's Plato. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 
1865. 



.W.7 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 

JAMES PYLE WICKERSHAM, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern 
District of Pennsylvania. 



'^fw 



%^ a Sfililjut([ 0f %t%i^ni 



To the men and loomen noiv constituting the Teachers* 
Profession in America, characterized as they are 
hy learning, worth, and devotion to a work 
among the most noble that human effort 
ever aspired to accomplish — the 
right education of the whole 
people of the nation — who 
for their heavy labors 
receive small recom- 
pense save the con- 
sciousness of 
doing good, 

Whose desire it has been to be worthy of a place as a 
co-worker among them, whose hope it is to 
aid in elevating and dignifying the Pro- 
fession to which he and they belong, 
and whose reward it will be to 
have secured their approval 
of his work, begs leave 
to dedicate this 
book, 

(iii) ' 



PREFACE 



The author of this volume published, about a year 
ago, a book entitled " School Economy." In the Pre- 
face to it, the statement was made that other volumes 
were contemplated, but that their publication depended 
very much upon the reception of the one then offered 
to the Profession and the public. The commendations 
of that book were so numerous and hearty, and its sale 
so rapid, that the obligation was soon imposed upon 
the author of redeeming his implied promise, by print- 
ing the volume on " Methods of Instruction," which 
was then announced as being almost ready for the 
Press. 

The present work, like the former one, is based upon 
lectures delivered to classes of students preparing them- 
selves for teachers, but much additional matter is intro- 
duced here, that was not contained in the original 
lectures, for the purpose of rounding out the whole 
into a more perfect system, and making the book more 
acceptable to all classes of teachers. As it now stands 

1* (y) 



Vi PREFACE. 

it is hoped that it will be found to embodj^ principles 
well worthy the attention of the Philosopher as well 
as of the Educator, and that its merit may be such as 
to make it a standard work in the profession whose 
interests mainly it is designed to serve. 

It will be observed that the word Teaching is used 
to designate all that belongs to the profession, whose 
aim it is to educate mankind. The words Law and 
Medicine have a similar relation to those professions 
whose objects it is, respectively, to preserve social 
order, and to cure the sick. Pedagogy, is the term 
generally employed by the Germans to express what I 
now call Teaching, but this word has an unpleasant 
association in this country, which unfits it for that pur- 
pose. Teaching was divided in the Preface to the 
" School Economy," into four divisions, viz. : School 
Economy, which treats of the preparation for, and the 
organization of, the school, and the conditions of its 
efficient working; Methods of Instruction, which treats 
of the nature of knowledge, and the methods of im- 
parting it ; Methods of Culture, which treats of the 
nature of man, aild the methods of educing from it all 
possible perfection ; and the Histor}^ of Education. To 
the matter composing the first three divisions I have 
sometimes thought shorter, but, perhaps, not more 
expressive, names might be applied, as follows : Scho- 
lastics, instead of School Economy ; Didactics, instead 
of Methods of Instruction ; and Humanics, instead of 
Methods of Culture. The first is, perhaps, objectionable 



PKEFACE. Vll 

because it has already been appropriated, though not 
much used ; the second is very expressive, and is now- 
applied somewhat indefinitely to Teaching in general ; 
and the third, in a slightly different form, has associa- 
tions of long standing, w-hich render it a fit term to 
express the object-matter proposed to be embraced by 
Methods of Culture. Throughout this work, how-ever, 
the forms of expression first chosen will continue to 
be used. 

The labor expended in the preparation of this book 
w^as very great. It formed a daily subject of thought 
for the past ten years, and much of it was w^ritten over 
three or four times. This is hardly the place to confess 
how often the task w^as about to be abandoned from the 
disproportion felt to exist between its magnitude and 
the limited powers that could be summoned to execute 
it ; but it w^as as often resumed, and is now completed 
— completed, but not perfected, for it is not presumed 
that nothing erroneous or imperfect w411 be found in 
the work. It would have been easy to fill five hundred 
pages with matter concerning the methods of teaching 
the several branches of knowledge considered independ- 
ently ; but in that case the book would have been a 
mere collection of fragments, and not at all a scientific 
treatise. It might, indeed, have been more popular, 
but it w^ould have been unfaithful to the great theme 
discussed ; so at the risk of losing readers, patient effort 
was made to grapple with the subject in its broadest 
relations. Great difficulty w^as met in condensing the 



via PREFACE. 

materials. It would have been much easier to write 
several volumes on the subject than one. The thinking 
reader will appreciate this labor. 

Criticism is anticipated from those who would mea- 
sure all knowledge by the standard of utility, or confine 
it to the few branches which seem to impart most skill 
in transacting the world's affairs, but this will be borne 
with patience, if what is written shall secure the appro- 
bation of those who see in education the means of 
developing all the powers of the human soul, and fur- 
nishing it with that instruction which is not only pro- 
fitable on earth, but which leads up towards the world 
of light and love. 

Teachers of the most limited scholarship will find 
much matter in the book that they can readily make 
use of in the every day work of their schools; but some 
such teachers will likely complain that they meet with 
things which they cannot understand. This, perhaps, 
will not be the fault of the book. The doctrine of 
education cannot be discussed as a Philosophy without 
using philosophical principles and philosophical lan- 
guage. Works on Law and Medicine rise to the level 
of the subjects of which they treat, and lift the earnest 
student up with them. Teachers must adopt a higher 
standard of learning. They must acquaint themselves 
with the fundamental principles of Teaching. They 
must learn to think. And, besides, this book was not 
written for the babes of the profession, but for the men 
— not for those who are satisfied to tramp forever the 



PREFACE. IX 

tread-mill of routine and get no farther and rise no 
higher, but for those who aspire to gain broader and 
clearer views of the Philosophy of Education and to 
guide the work of teaching by their light. Teaching, 
when rightly done, is not a mere process of imitation or 
a piece of guess-work. Its rules and precepts are not 
even the generalizations of successful practice, but they 
are founded upon the universal and necessary laws 
which condition matter and govern mind. 

As a preparation for the successful study of this 
book, it is necessary to understand the several bran- 
ches of knowledge of the methods of teaching which 
it treats; and also to be versed in the sciences which 
directly appertain to mind — the Psychological Sciences. 
In the broadest sense it requires the whole of Science 
to constitute the basis upon which Teaching must 
rest. The solution of the problem of man necessitates 
the solution of the problem of nature, for to under- 
stand him all else must be understood. And yet this 
conception is so far above the practice of the profes- 
sion, so much beyond the reach of many who are called 
good teachers that I scarcely venture to present it. 
When I think of the low ends we aim at in education, 
and the unworthy means and imperfect methods we 
use to accomplish them, I tremble to think we are 
teaching and know so little. God, forgive us if we 
mar thy noblest work. We are ignorant, and would 
be humble. Thou alone canst know the difficulties 
that surround our task. 



X PREFACE. 

The i^lan of this book was formed during the year 
1855. To fill out the plan much reading as well as 
much thinking has been done; but to tell to-day what 
was obtained by the first process and what by the 
second is an impossibility. Wishing to do justice to 
everybody, no claim that may be fairly made to any 
idea in it will be disputed ; and it is hoped that some- 
thing may be left even when all claims are satisfied. 
Nothing, however, has been taken from others and 
used without digestion. All the facts and principles 
found in the book, come whence they may, have been 
fused into a common whole. This whole — this collect- 
ing and uniting of the scattered fragments of thought 
concerning education — this system^ is what the author 
asks credit for, if credit be deemed his due. 

The question is a disputed one as to whether Teach- 
ing is a science or an art. The settlement of this 
question depends wholly upon the definitions of sci- 
ence and art. Teaching seeks an end without itself, 
and this is a characteristic of art. It comprehends 
many scientific principles which admit systematic ar- 
rangement, and this is a characteristic of science. It 
applies those principles in the form of rules or precepts 
in the accomplishment of its ends, and this again ex- 
hibits its relationship to the arts. All the principles 
of Teaching come to it second-hand. They are first 
found in the material or mental sciences, and are used 
in Teaching to furnish a ground for its methods of pro- 
cedure. But as a body of truths they are among the 



PREFACE. xi 

broadest and noblest that the human mind can contem^ 
plate, and consequently place Teaching side by side, 
as the peer of the proudest professions known to men. 
Teaching has the same claims to be considered a science 
as Jurisprudence, Medicine, or practical Ethics; for 
all these are constructed in a manner precisely like 
Teaching. All of them borrow their principles, and 
all of them use these principles in the eifort to attain 
their respective ends. Perhaps, as Mill following Comte 
suggests, "There ought to be a set of intermediate 
scientific truths, derived from the higher generalities 
of science, and destined to serve as the generalia, or 
first principles, of the various arts." Some such gene- 
ralia relating to Teaching are given in this book under 
the head of Conditioning Principles. These and other 
principles like them constitute the claim Teaching has 
to be called a Science. If the claim is not well founded 
with respect to Teaching, it cannot be well founded with 
respect to any other profession. I am quite willino- to 
consider Teaching an art, but it is an art based upon 
scientific principles that should always guide its prac- 
tice. Let teachers forever discard the degrading idea 
that the highest and holiest work in which men can 
engage on earth, the right education of the human 
soul, is a mere mechanical employment that can be 
learned by imitation — is a thing so easy that no special 
preparation is required to do it. Let them hold to the 
truth, though their pearls be trampled on by vulgar 
feet, that Teaching lays under contribution all science 
and all art in working out the grandest end that 



Xll PREFACE. 

human conception ever realized — the perfection of 
the race. , 

With grateful thanks for the kind reception accorded 
to his first volume, the author now hopefully trusts his 
second to the same generous hands. 

J. P. W. 

State Normal School, January, 1865. 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION. 



TEACHERS REQUIRE SPECIAL PREPARATION. 

First Class of Reasons. page 

1. The teacher must understand the true object of educa- 

tion 26 

2. The teacher must understand that upon which he 

operates 27 

3. The teacher must understand that with which he 

operates 28 

4. The teacher must understand how to conduct the 

operation 28 

5. The teacher must know how to manage and govern the 

school 30 

Second Class of Reasons. 

1. Special preparation on the part of teachers is necessary 

to constitute Teaching a profession 30 

2. Special preparation on the part of teachers is necessary 

to make Teaching a permanent business 31 

3. Efforts for the special preparation of teachers have 



been attended with satisfactory results. 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 



32 



I. Principles inferable from the Nature of Mind 37 

1. The intellectual faculties can receive culture by judi- 
cious exercise 37 

2 (xiii) 



XIV CONTENTS. 

PACB 

2. The human intellect embraces a number of distinct 

faculties each of which requires a diflFerent kind of 
culture 38 

3. Human beings have been created with different tastes 

and talents to fit them for performing different 
duties or for occupying different spheres in life 39 

4. The Perceptive powers are stronger and more active in 

youth than the other intellectual faculties and thus 
furnish a basis for the superstructure of knowledge 40 

5. Commencing with the Perceptive Powers, the various 

intellectual faculties increase in relative strength in 
the following order : Memory, Recollection, Imagina- 
tion, Understanding, Reason 41 

6. The hviman mind possesses two sources of knowledge, 

the Senses and the Reason, the products of which 
differ in kind 44 

7. In acquiring knowledge, the mind first distinguishes its 

objects in kind, then in quantity, and afterwards in 
their relations 45 

8. The ratiocinative faculty in elaborating systems of 

science, proceeds inductively or deductively, analyti- 
cally or synthetically 46 

9. The acquisitive powers of the mind in getting knowledge 

operate according to certain laws of suggestion 48 

10. The reproductive powers of the mind by means of laws 

of association enable it to recall its knowledge, and 

to hold it up in vivid pictures before it 49 

11. The productive powers of the mind enable it. to make 

new discoveries and new inventions 50 

12. The human intellect grows only by its own inherent 

energies 51 

13. The acts of men do not derive their moral quality from 

the intellect 51 

14. The intellect of man has limits which no extent of educa- 

tion can enable it to pass 52 

II. Principles inferable from the Nature of Knowledge 64 

1. The several branches of knowledge can be made to fur- 

nish the intellectual faculties with exercise proper 

in kind and quantity 54 

2. Educational means can be found adapted to give culture 

to every capability of mind 56 



CONTENTS. XV 

3. No God-constituted difference of mental constitution is ^^^^ 

left unprovided for in the wealth of means which the 
Creator intended to be used for the purposes of 
education g^ 

4. Nature presents to the inquirer, first the concrete and 

then the abstract ; first things and then words, or 
signs for things; first facts and phenomena and 
then laws and principles; first wholes and then 
parts and collections of wholes ; thus indicating to 
the teacher the propriety of confining his elemen- 
tary instruction mainly to lessona on objects whose 
properties can be directly perceived, for the purpose 
of making the experience of the young as extensive 
as possible eg 

5. Nature opens up her truth in a certain order, and that 

order must be followed in investigation and study... 60 

6. The Empirical and the Rational Sciences require dif- 

ferent methods of instruction 62 

7 The first form of instruction must be qualitative, next 

quantitative, and, then, a comparison of relations... 64 

8. As conditioned by the relations of the object-matter 

of knowledge, methods of teaching must be induc- 
tive or deductive, analytical or synthetical 66 

9. The object-matter of knowledge as it exists in nature is 

so connected and arranged as to facilitate its acqui- 
sition • po 

10. The matter of knowledge as it lies in the memory has 

connections and relations which increase its avail- 
ability gg 

11. New discoveries in science and new inventions in the 

arts are still possible, and methods of instruction 
should prompt the young to make them 70 

12. Nature everywhere courts investigation by a system of 

attractions wLich enlist the attention, and induce 
increased activity in the powers by which we re- 
member, reflect, reason, and philosophize, and there- 
fore methods of teaching should be suggestive 72 

13. The study of science does not in itself lead to virtue.... 75 

14. What we can know is everywhere bounded by what 

must remain unknown 7(5 



XVI CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

I. The Classification of Knowledge 80 

First Class — the Elements of Knowledge 83 

Second Class — Language 85 

Third Class — the Formal Sciences 86 

Fourth Class — the Empirical Sciences 86 

Fifth Class — the Rational Sciences 86 

Sixth Class — the Historical Sciences 87 

Seventh Class — the Arts 87 

II. The Genesis of Knowledge 88 

The Genesis of our knowledge of Language 88 

The Genesis of our knowledge of the Formal Sciences 90 

The Genesis of our knowledge of the Empirical Sciences, ,. 93 

The Genesis of our knowledge of the Ptational Sciences 96 

The Genesis of our knowledge of the Historical Sciences... 98 

The Genesis of our knowledge of the Arts 99 

Educational generalizations 103 

III. The Order of Study 109 

First Period — Infancy 110 

Second Period — Childhood 113 

Third Period— Fom^^ 117 

Fourth Period — Manhood 120 

CHAPTER I. 

INSTRUCTION IN THE ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

1. Informal Instruction in the Elements of Knowledge 124 

1. Children should be allowed ample opportunities for ex- 

ercising their Senses 124 

2. Children should be instructed in learning to talk 127 

3. Children should have their appetite for knowledge grati- 

fied 130 

4. Children should be furnished occasions for applying 

their powers of knowing what is true, beautiful, and 
good 135 

5. Children should be allowed facilities for practice in the 

elements of the Arts 138 



CONTENTS. XVll 

PAGE 

II. Formal Instruction in the Elements of Knowledge 140 

1. The Design of Object. Lessons 141 

2. The Matter of Object Lessons 144 

3. The Preparation for imparting Object Lessons 150 

4. The Method of conducting Object Lessons 154 

6. The Dangers to which the Object Lesson System is 

exposed 15G 



CHAPTER 11. 

INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

Instruction in our Mother-Tongue 161 

Advantages to be derived from the Study of the Eng- 
lish Language 165 

Learning to Read our Mother-Tongue 165 

The Alphabet 165 

1. The A B C Method 168 

The Manner of teaching the Alphabet with a Book.... 168 

The Manner of teaching the Alphabet with Cards 169 

The Manner of teaching the Alphabet with a Slate or 

Blackboard ^ 179 

The Manner of teaching the Alphabet with Letter- 
Blocks 173 

2. The Word Method 175 

Lessons upon the N.imes of Pictures 175 

Lessons upon the Names of Words 176 

Lessons upon the Names of Letters 176 

Pronunciation 179 

1. The Synthetic Method 179 

The Alphabetic Method ISO 

The Phonic Method 182 

The Phonetic Method ., 187 

2. The Associative Method 188 

3. The Eclectic Method 191 

Orthography 195 

1. The Auricular Method 196 

2. The Ocular Method 197 



XVIU CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Exercises in Spelling. 

Spelling Exercises for Beginners 200 

Oral Exercises in Spelling 201 

Method of using Slates in a Spelling Recitation 202 

Method of using the Blackboard in a Spelling Recita- 
tion 204 

False Orthography as an Exercise in Spelling 205 

Dictation Exercises 205 

Reading 208 

1. Method of teaching Readiiig as a Vocal Art 208 

Quantity, including Force, Emphasis, Slur, Stress, and 

Accent 210 

Compass, including Pitch and Inflection 214 

Movement, including Rate and Pause 216 

Quality 218 

2. Method of teaching Reading as a Mental Operation 220 

Reading as related to the Intellect 220 

Reading as related to the Emotions 224 

3. Method of teaching Delivery '. 227 

' Expression 227 

Posture 231 

Gesture a 232 

II. Learning to Understand our Mother-Tongue 234 

Lexicology 235 

1. The meaning of words may be learned by direct in- 

tuition .' 236 

2. The meaning of words may be learned by concrete ex- 

planations 237 

3. The meaning of words may be learned by the use of 

sipaplified expressions 238 

4. The meaning of words may be learned by observing 

their signification as used in sentences 239 

5. The meaning of words may be learned by the study of 

foreign languages 241 

6. The meaning of words may be learned by an acquaint- 

ance with Etymology 241 

7. The meaning of words may be learned by scientific defi- 

nitions 244 

Grammar 245 

1. Etymological Exercises 247 

Nouns 248 



CONTENTS. XIX 

PAGE 

Kinds of Nouns 248 

Properties of Nouns 249 

Verbs 249 

Kinds of Verbs 250 

Properties of Verbs 251 

Exercises on the other Parts of Speech 252 

2. Grammar as a Science 252 

The Subject 253 

The Predicate 254 

Kinds of Subjects 255 

Kinds of Predicates 255 

Adjective Elements 256 

Adverbial Elements 257 

General Principles relating to teaching Grammar 258 

Rhetoric 259 

1. Kinds of Discourse 260 

2. Qualities which characterize well constructed Dis- 

course „ 261 

3. Arrangement and Style of Discourse 262 

Philology 265 

The Nature of Philology 265 

III. Learning to Compose in our Mother-Tongue 266 

1. Elementary Composition 267 

Classes of Exercises 268 

2. Higher Composition 270 

Composition in connection with Grammar and Rhetoric. 271 
Directions for conducting Special Exercises in Compo- 
sition 272 

II. Instruction in the Dead Languages 275 

1. Uses of the Study of Latin and Greek 277 

The study of Latin and Greek assists in the study of 

our own language 277 

The study of Latin and Greek assists in understand- 
ing the character of the people who spoke them 277 

The study of Latin and Greek assists in obtaining a 
knowledge of the history of the Romans and 
Greeks 278 

The study of Latin and Greek furnishes very good in- 
tellectual discipline 278 



XX CONTENTS. 

PAQB 

* The study of Latin and Greek furnishes fine aesthetic 

culture 279 

2. Methods of teaching Latiii and Greek 280 

« The Method that commences by teaching Pupils to 

speak Latin and Greek 282 

The Method that commences by teaching Pupils to 

read Latin and Greek 283 

The Method that commences by teaching the Latin 

and Greek Grammar 285 

3. General directioyis for conducting a recitation in the reading 

of a classical author 287 

III. Instruction in Living Foreign Languages 289 



CHAPTER III. 

INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

I. The Formal Sciences in General 295 

1. Definitions and Axioms 206 

2. Deductions and Demonstrations 299 

3. Applications 302 

II. Mathematics 303 

1. The Value of Mathematical Studies in themselves. ....w 304 

2. The Value of Mathematical Studies in their objective 

Relations 305 

3. The Value of Mathematical Studies in their EflFects upon 

the Mind 306 

Arithmetic 312 

The Ends for which Arithmetic is studied 313 

The Conditions necessary to the Attainment of these 

Ends 314 

1. Exercises in counting 315 

2. Exercises in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and 

dividing orally 316 

3. Exercises in combining these Processes 316 

4. Exercises in learning the written Symbols for Num- 

bers 316 

5. Exercises in Numeration and Notation 316 



CON'TENTS. XXI 

PAQK 

6. Exercises in Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, 

and Division 319 

7. Exercises in the Solution of practical Examples in- 

volving the four Fundamental Rules 321 

8. Exercises in imparting the Id^a of a Fraction 321 

9. Exercises in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and 

dividing Fractions orally 322 

10. Exercises in teaching Fractional Expressions 323 

11. Exercises in the Addition, Subtraction, Multiplica- 

tion, and Division of Fractions, and their Ap- 
plications 323 

12. Exercises in Decimal Fractions 323 

13. Exercises in Compound Numbers 324 

14. Exercises in Proportion, and Involution and Evolu- 

tion 325 

15. Exercises in Arithmetical Applications 325 

Algebra 326 

Algebraic Symbols 328 

The Algebraic Idea 328 

Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, and dividing Alge- 
braic Quantities «... 329 

Algebraic Equations 329 

Geometry 331 

Geometry for young Children 332 

Geometrical Demonstrations 334 

III. Logic 336 

1. The Utility of Logic as a Study 336 

Logic is a useful study in itself 337 

Logic is a useful study on account of its objective re- 
lations 337 

Logic is a useful study because it disciplines the Un- 
derstanding 337 

2. Methods of Teaching Logic 338 

Its definitions 338 

Its Deductions and Demonstrations 339 

Its Applications , 340 



Xxii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER ly. 

INSTRUCTION IN THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

PAGE 

The Uses of the Empirical Sciences 343 

I. The Empirical Sciences in General 346 

1. The Order in which the Empirical Sciences must he taught... 346 

The Exhibition of Objects 346 

The Pointing out of particular Facts 350 

The Classification of Facts 353 

The Derivation of Laws controlling Facts 354 

The Bringing of new Facts under ascertained Laws... 357 
The Recognition of universal and necessary Principles 

on which all Empirical Laws depend 358 

2. The Stages of Growth exhibited by the Empirical Sciences.... 360 

The Poetic Stage 360 

The Mystic Stage 361 

The Observational Stage 362 

The Classificatory Stage 362 

The Inductive Stage 363 

The Demonstrative Stage 363 

The Philosophic Stage 365 

The Esthetic Stage 365 

The Religiovis Stage 366 

II. Geography 367 

1. Lessons on Objects relating to Geography which Pupils 

can observe for themselves 370 

2. Lessons on similar Objects which can be found only in 

Localities distant from the School 372 

3. Lessons on the Topography of the Neighborhood about 

the School 373 

4. Lessons on the Explanations of common Geographical 

Terms 376 

5. Lessons on Detailed Geography 379 

6. Lessons on the Classification of Geographical Facts 385 

7. Lessons on.the general Laws which govern Geographical 

Facts 387 



CONTENTS. xxiii 

CHAPTER V. 

INSTRUCTION IN THE RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

PAGK 

I. The Nature of the Rational Sciences 389 

II. The Value of the Rational Sciences as Studies 394 

1. The Value of the Rational Sciences in Themselves 394 

2. The Value of the Rational Sciences in their Relations 

to other Sciences 396 

3. The Value of Rational Sciences as Means of Discipline. 397 

4. The Value of the Rational Sciences in preparing the 

Mind to accept Revealed Truth 398 

III. The Ohject-Matter of the Rational Sciences 399 

1. Primary Ideas 400 

2. The Criteria 403 

3. Axiomatic Truths 404 

4. Deductions and Demonstrations 404 

5. Applications 405 

IV. The Methods of Teaching the Rational Sciences 406 

CHAPTER YI. 

INSTRUCTION IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

I. The Facts of History 414 

1. The Nature of the Facts of History 415 

2. The peculiar Difficulties which are encountered in the 

Study of the Facts of History 416 

3. A Course of Study in the Facts of History 418 

4. General Suggestions in Regard to teaching the Facts of 

History 421 

II. The Philosophy of History 426 

1. The Materialistic Theory 428 

2. The Spiritualistic Theory 434 

3. The Theistic Theory 442 

Method in teaching the Piiilosophy of History 447 



XXIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER YIL 

INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

PAGE 

I. Writing 451 

1. Lessons designed to teach the Coricepiion of the Forms of the 

Letters 452 

2. Lessons designed to give Culture to the Muscles used in 

WritiJig 455 

General Suggestions in Regard to teaching Writing.... 456 

II. Drawing 459 

1. The Abstract Method 460 

Classes of Exercises 461 

2. The Concrete 3Ielhod 463 

Classes of Exercises 464 

3. Shading, Shadow, and Perspective 466 

III. Vocal Music 468 

Advantages of a knowledge of Vocal Music 468 

1. The Training of the Vocal Organs 471 

2. The Culture of the Musical Taste 477 

3. Musical Execution 479 

IV. The Arts in General 480 

The Nature of the Arts 480 

1. Insiructioti in the Empirical Arts 483 

Their End 483 

Their Means 486 

Their Modes of Execution 488 

2. Instruction in the Rational Arts 489 

Their End 400 

Their Means 491 

Their Modes of Execution 492 



METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 



I^N'TRODUCTIOiT. 

TEACHERS REQUIRE SPECIAL PREPARATION. 

Education as a science comprehends the laws of 
the physical and mental constitution of man, and 
its relations to those means by which he can receive 
instruction and culture. 

Education as an art consists in selecting and 
applying the means used for imparting instruction 
and culture. 

Like other sciences, education can be studied; 
and, as in other arts, acquired skill as well as native 
talent is essential to success. To attain a knowledofe 
of the science and proficiency in the art of educa- 
tion, it seems evident at a glance that special prepa- 
ration is necessary ; but as this position has been 
questioned, it is considered advisable to introduce 
the following work by some considerations in its 
favor. 

Until within a few years, the common schools of 
this country were taught almost exclusively by 
persons who had never studied professionally, who, 
indeed, were generally ignorant that any preparation 
could be made or was needed to enable them to dis- 

3 (25) 



26 INTRODUCTIOIT. 

charge their duty in the work of teaching. Acade- 
mies and colleges were not. much better off in this 
respect; for, though those who taught in them 
possessed a higher degree of scholarship than the 
teachers of common schools, they could justly claim 
little more professional knowledge. The public 
seem to have been satisfied with this kind of guess- 
work teaching. Instructors of youth were allowed 
to enter upon their business without having served 
even that period of apprenticeship deemed necessary 
for those who make hats or coats, build houses, or 
shoe horses. They were everywhere employed with 
little regard to their literary, and less to their pro- 
fessional, qualifications. These strictures are not so 
applicable to the present condition of our educational 
affairs as to their condition a few years ago ; but 
notwithstanding schools for the traiiiing of teachers 
exist in most of the Free States, and other means 
of obtaining knowledge appertaining to teaching 
are readily accessible, the great body of American 
schools are still taught by persons who have neither 
attended ISTormal Schools nor availed themselves of 
any other means of professional improvement. 

That special preparation is necessary for teachers 
will appear from the considerations which follow : 

1. The Teacher must understand the true object 
OF Education. — The lowest idea of the object of an 
education embraces only its advantages in acquiring 
that knowledge which may be used in obtaining 
food, clothing, shelter, protection, or in carrying on 
some kind of business. An idea of the object of 
education to this extent may be obtained, perhaps, 



TEACHERS REQUIRE SPECIAL PREPARATION. 27 

without any special preparation, it may result from 
the pressure of circumstances ; but education has an 
object far higher — an object that is not limited by 
the mere necessities of life. The great end of edu- 
cation is to perfect man, physically, mentally, 
morally, religiooisly. To do this truth must be 
sought and loved for its own sake, discipline must 
be valued for the permanent strength it imparts to 
the soul, longings for the high and 'the holy must be 
made to spring up in the heart, and all his powers 
must be so directed as to attain true manhood for 
man. To realize all this even in thought is diffi- 
cult, to realize it in life is the great problem which 
it is our mission on earth to solve. 'No teacher can 
work effectively without a well-defined object, and no 
teacher can fully conceive the highest object of edu- 
cation without long and careful thought. To do so, 
he must study with profound attention the nature 
of man physically and mentally, and his relations to 
the world in which he lives, to his fellow-men, and 
to God. 

2. The Teacher must understand that upon 
WHICH he operates. — No man can operate skilfully 
upon a thing the nature of w^hich he does not under- 
stand. The farmer must understand the nature of 
the soil he cultivates ; the blacksmith, the iron he 
fashions ; the potter, the clay he moulds, before either 
can produce the most advantageous results. The 
human mind is certainly not less easy to compre- 
hend than are soils, iron, or clay, that the teacher 
can be safely relieved from the special professional 
labor and study required of farmers, blacksmiths, 



28 INTEODUCTION. 

and potters. True, like them, he may work like a 
machine, or work by imitating others, but such blind 
methods of procedure, unworthy of a man in any 
avocation of life, become almost criminal when 
applied to the education of human beings whose 
success in this world and happiness in the world 
to come he may jeopardize. 

3. The Teacher must understand that with 
WHICH he operates. — The subject-matter of know- 
ledge comprehends the world of matter and the 
world of mind. The teacher has all created things 
from which to select means to be used in the work 
of education. 'Eo man can make a judicious selec- 
tion of these means, and be prepared to present 
them in their proper order and proportion without 
long and careful study. The physician spends 
much time and thought in selecting and compound- 
ing his medicines for the body ; it is not more easy 
to prepare those which are designed to be adminis- 
tered to the mind. Indeed, the selection of the best 
course of study for a child is a problem as difficult 
as any with which the human mind ever tried to 
grapple. 

4. The Teacher must understand how to con- 
duct the operation. — A man may understand the 
nature of the thing upon which he intends to ope- 
rate, he may understand the means with which the 
operation is to be performed, and still want a know- 
ledge of the method of performing the operation. 
It is the teacher's duty to train and instruct children, 
and he can have no intelligent method of doing this 



TEACHEKS REQUIEE SPECIAL PREPARATION-. 29 

without making special preparation. He can no 
more dispense with a knowledge of the method of 
operating than can the man who navigates a ship or 
builds a railroad. If methods of teaching were 
merely mechanical, founded upon no fixed princi- 
ples (and this is not the case), they could not be suc- 
cessfully imitated without special preparation; for 
such is the law with this whole class of operations. 
Besides, facts show that the possession of knowledge 
does not imply ability to impart it. It is self-evi- 
dent that one person* cannot impart to another what 
he does not know himself, but it is maintained here 
that good scholars do not always succeed in becom- 
ing good teachers. Persons who have been well 
taught must have learned something concerning the 
methods by which they were taught, but they can- 
not intelligently follow these methods in their own 
practice unless they have carefully studied all their 
details, and the principles upon which they are 
founded. Like passengers on board of a rail-car or 
steamship, pupils may make swift speed toward 
their journey's end without noticing the way along 
which they travel. Methods of teaching cannot be 
well studied incidentally; they have a philosophy 
of their own, and should be made a definite object 
of study. Skill in teaching, it is true, may be 
acquired by school-room experience without special 
instruction beforehand ; but this is always done at 
much risk to the teacher, and with much loss to the 
pupils. 1^0 man has more need to profit by the 
experience of others than the teacher, for no man's 
mistakes are less easily remedied. Teaching talent 
may seem in some inborn, but this is true also in 



30 INTEODUCTION. 

respect to particular individuals in all professions, 
and cannot be fairly adduced as an argument against 
special preparation for those not so highly favored 
by nature. 

5. The Teacher must know how to Manage and 
Govern a School. — Discipline gives power. One 
hundred well-drilled soldiers are worth more on a 
battle-field than several hundred raw recruits. The 
captain of a vessel, the superintendent of a factory, 
the commander of an army, mu^t acquire professional 
skill by discipline ; knowledge of the principles of 
school-management and school-government, and 
skill in applying them, must be acquired in the same 
way. Progress can be hoped for in teaching only 
as teachers make use of the experience of their 
predecessors as a starting-post for their own inves- 
tigations. "Where wise and good men tell us how 
to avoid falling into errors, it is great folly to shut 
our ears to their advice. ISTor can natural aptitude 
for managing and governing a school be relied upon, 
any more than natural aptitude for practicing medi- 
cine or law can be relied upon in those professions. 

Some additional reasons will be given in favor of 
special preparation for teachers. They belong to a 
different class from the preceding, but are scarcely 
less convincing: 

1. Special Preparation on the part of Teachers 
IS necessary to constitute Teaching a Profession. — • 
If scholarship is the only requisite for the teacher, 
then all scholars are teachers, or may properly 
become such whenever the prospects of success in 



Teachers require special preparation. 31 

more desirable fields of efi:brt become discouraging. 
Teaching would thus be a kind of common ground 
open to all, and admitting the limitation of no pro- 
fessional lines. As a consequence, teachers would 
attach little importance to, and have little interest 
in, their work ; there would be little unity of efibrt 
among them, and a general w^ant of that class feel- 
ing, or esprit du corps, which is always essential to 
the building up of any profession, and without 
which teaching can neither attain the rank among 
the professions hoped for by teachers, nor meet in 
the value of its results the reasonable expectations 
of the public. 

2. Special Preparation on the part of Teachers 
IS necessary to make Teaching a Permanent Busi- 
ness. — At present no other kind of business is sub- 
ject to so many changes as teaching. It is certain 
that of those who have charge of our Common 
Schools one year, not more than two-thirds, in 
some places not more than one-half, remain to take 
charge of them the succeeding year. Such fre- 
quent changes do not take place in any other pur- 
suit, and they are partly, at least, accounted for in 
the teachers' profession by the opinion which is 
held by many that "anybody" can teach. The* 
consequence of this opinion is that thousands are 
still found occupying the position of teacher who 
never intend to become permanent teachers, but 
who teach merely to replenish their exhausted 
funds, to enjoy opportunities for self-improvement, 
to put in time while waiting to engage in some 
other kind of business, and are restless under the 



82 ^ IN-TRODUCTION". 

irksome necessity that confines them to the school- 
room. A well-taoght school by any of these classes 
of persons must be an exception to the rule. They 
have made no special ^preparation to become 
teachers, and they do not intend that either their 
livelihood or their reputation shall depend upon 
their success as such; and actuated by none of the 
usual motives that prompt to earnest effort, they 
cannot be expected to evince much interest or 
exhibit great skill in teaching. In proportion as 
men expend time, labor, and money in fitting them- 
selves for a particular kind of business w^ill be their 
indisposition to abandon it, and never until the 
public recognize the truth that teachers require 
special preparation, will communities be freed from 
the evils consequent upon the frequent change of 
teachers, and the profession of teaching relieved of 
the horde of intruders who now disgrace it and 
reduce to a very low amount the remuneration it 
affords. 

3. Efforts for the Special Preparation of 
Teachers have been attended with satisfactory 
RESULTS. — Prussia has tried the experiment of train- 
ing teachers upon a large scale, and both government 
-and people think it has been successful. Austria, 
France, and England have their schools for teachers, 
and find them essential to the well-working of their 
systems of education. Such men as Dinter, Cousin 
and Brougham have advocated the establishment 
of I^ormal Schools. These schools have also been 
established in many of our American States ; and 
though they have encountered much opposition, 



TEACHERS REQUIRE SPECIAL PREPARATION. 33 

they have everywhere met with signal success. The 
public have seen teachers who have made special 
preparation at l!Tormal Schools work by the side of 
those who have not made such preparation ; with 
the shrewdness characteristic of our people a com- 
parison of their respective merits has been made, 
and the conclusion is best expressed in the liberal 
patronage which such schools receive and the hun- 
dreds of thousands of dollars which are annually 
expended for their support. 

The reasons just stated are sufficient to show that 
teachers require special preparation, and their state- 
ment seems appropriately to introduce a work on 
Teaching which aims to aid in that preparation. If 
any teacher, or any one who designs to become a 
teacher feels the want of the preparation which it 
has been shown teachers need, he is invited to study 
the subject as presented in the following pages; 
and it is hoped he will not only find that which will 
increase his ability to discharge the duties incum- 
bent upon the teacher, but that which will elevate 
his idea of the importance and dignity of the 
teachers' profession. 



CONDITIONII^G PEIISTCIPLES. ' 

Human perfection is the grand aim of all well 
directed education. The teacher has ever present 
with him his ideal man whose perfections he would 
realize in the children committed to his care, as the 
sculptor would realize the pure forms of his imagina- 
tion in the rough marhle that lies unchiseled hefore 
him. Embraced in this great end of education there 
are several subordinate ends, that of gaining know- 
ledge, that of attaining discipline, that of lifting up 
the mind to the contemplation of pure beauty, truth, 
and excellence, and that of fitting ourselves to per- 
form in the best manner possible all our duties to 
man and to God. 

Granted, that this is a true conception of the end 
of all education, and the object-matter which must 
form the foundation for a system of teaching, will 
comprehend : 1st. The nature of the thing to be 
operated upon, or educational capabilities ; 2d. The 
nature of the instrumentalities which may be used 
in operating upon it, or educational means ; 3d. The 
manner of performing the operation, or educational 
methods. A system of agriculture is likewise divis- 
ible into three parts ; that which treats of the soil, 
that which treats of the m^ans of fertilizing or work- 
ing it, and that which treats of the methods of 
applying the means to the desired end. A system 

(34) 



• CONDITIONINa PRINCIPLES. ' 35 

of Medicine, too, consists essentially of the sciences 
of Anatomy and Physiology, Pharmacy, and the 
Practice of Medicine. 

In a system of teaching, the thing to he operated 
upon is man ; the means wherewith to operate are 
found in everything that can be made to bear an ob- 
jective relation to man ; and the methods according 
to which the operation must be performed can have a 
basis nowhere but in the relations the mind and body 
sustain to each other and to the great universe. 

The whole subject admits treatment from two 
stand-points : 1st. The nature of man and the methods 
of edueating him according to the laws of that nature ; 
2d. The nature of the several hraiiches of knowledge 
and the methods of teaching them according to the laivs 
of that nature. 

Proceeding from the first of these stand-points, 
we commence with the study of man, learn his 
educational necessities and capabilities, and conclude 
with an exposition of the methods by which he can 
best be educated. Proceeding from tbe second 
stand-point, we commence by an examination of the 
means which may be made use of in the work of 
education, the several branches of knowledge ; in- 
quire into their relations and conditions, and close 
the investigation by presenting the methods by 
which knowledge can be best imparted. The whole 
subject of teaching may therefore be divided into 
two great parts, appropriately called Methods of 
Culture and Methods of Instruction. If the two 
classes of methods thus arrived at are found to har- 
monize, no further verification of their truthfulness 
is needed. 



86 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 

The subject of Methods of Culture may be treated 
of hereafter, but, in the present volume, it is my 
intention to consider only Methods of Instruction. 
Care will be taken, however, to verify conclusions 
in all open ways before announcing them. 

The methods adopted in the work of teaching 
may be right or they may be wrong. Just so the hor- 
ticulturist can stimulate his plants to a more active 
growth or he may destroy them, the lawyer may 
gain or lose his cause, the physician may cure or 
kill his patient ; and even the mechanic may operate 
upon his wood, or clay, or iron by skilful or unskil- 
ful processes. Immortal minds are committed to 
the teacher's charge. If he adopt right methods of 
teaching he can make those minds bear an image 
worthy of their heavenly origin and destiny and of 
Him who created them ; but if he pursue wrong 
methods they may be marred and debased until 
they become the most lamentable of all spectacles, 
wrecked and ruined human souls. 

Starting with the obvious fact that there may be 
right and wrong methods of teaching, I proceed to 
take the first step in the search for those that are 
right by stating some of the principles which all 
such methods must observe, and which have been 
denominated Conditioning Principles. 

Methods of intellectual education must be condi- 
tioned on the one hand by the nature of mind, and ' 
on the other by the iTature of knowledge ; the sub- 
ject, therefore, will be considered in two sections. 
The first will embrace a statement of principles that 
belong rather to Methods of Culture, but whose 
guiding light cannot well be dispensed with in the 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 37 

department of education now under consideration. 
Upon an examination of these principles, it will be 
seen that the two sources from which they are 
drawn yield the same fruit — one set of principles 
corresponding w^ith the other — and a basis for the 
science of teaching is found either in mind or in 
nature, is both Psychological and Cosmological. In 
order that the student may better appreciate the 
beautiful correlation existing between the two sets 
of principles, the corresponding propositions will be 
numbered alike. 

This classification of principles, it ought to be 
remarked, is intended to embrace only the most 
important of those which appertain to intellectual 
education — it is not exhaustive. 

I. Principles Inferable from the Nature of 
Mind. 

The nature of a thing acted upon always gov- 
erns in some measure the methods of acting upon 
it. If soils were differently constituted, farmers 
would be under the necessity of changing their 
modes of cultivation ; if the diseased human body 
was unlike it now is, a corresponding modification 
would be necessary in systems of medical practice. 
The same process that will put in motion particles 
^of air or water will not separate those of quartz or 
granite. "Wood and iron cannot be w^orked in the 
same manner nor with the same tool^. ^lence 
educational principles are inferable from the iiature 
of mind, and among them are those w^hich follow : — 

1. The Intellectual Faculties can receive Cpl- 

4 



38 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 

TURE ONLY BY JuDicious ExERCiSE. — No means are 
known whereby the faculties of the mind can be 
developed but by exercising them. By the potent 
spell of the magic word Exercise, is evoked all 
human power. 

The proof of this proposition is found in multi- 
tudes of facts. The senses grow more acute by 
using them. The memory is improved by remem- 
bering, the reason by reasoning, the imagination by 
imagining. All these powers, too, become weak 
if not used. These facts may be learned from each 
person's own experience, or from observation upon 
others. The law inferred from them is fixed and 
universal. 

Exercise, however, in order to strengthen must 
be judicious. Too much or improper exercise will 
weaken the mind's powers instead of giving them 
strength. 

2. The Human Intellect eimbraces a number of 
Distinct Faculties each of which requires a dif- 
ferent KIND OF Culture. — It is acknowledged that 
the body may be made strong without giving 
strength to the mind, that our intellectual, emotional, 
and executive faculties can, as classes, receive an 
independent culture. This law holds good of the 
distinctive faculties that make up the human intel- 
lect. It requires one mode of culture to educate 
the senses and the perceptive powers, another to 
strengthen tlie memory, and still others to develop 
the powers of recollection, imagination, comparison, 
and reason. Each intellectual power difiers from 
the others in its nature, in its mode of operation, 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 89 

and modes of culture must adapt themselves to these 
differences. He would be like a blind man leading 
a blind man who should attempt to teach, ignorant 
of this great law. 

3. Human Beings have been created with dif- 
ferent Tastes and Talents to fit them for perform- 
ing different Duties or for occupying different 
Spheres in Life. — That children differ in tastes and 
talents every parent and every teacher is agreed. 
The Bible intimates the same fact. The reason pro- 
bably is that, as in nature's system each necessary 
office was designed to be filled by a qualified officer, 
men differ because their social duties or their spheres 
in life are different. But, whatever the reason, the fact 
is certain, and is of great significance to the educa- 
tor. It teaches him that he must plan his system 
of Teaching with reference to the peculiar tastes 
and talents of children. 

Doubtless, certain kinds of general knowledge and 
certain kinds of mental discipline may be considered 
indispensable for all ; but, in addition, every true 
teacher should consider it a privilege to furnish 
each one of his pupils an opportunity for the de- 
velopment of his special powers. The aim of edu- 
cation is not to make all men move in the same 
plane — to create a social dead-level. Protestations 
have been made against the prescribed, unvaried 
course of instruction in institutions of learning, and 
not alwa^^s without reason. Such men as Lord 
Byron, Hugh Miller, and Dr. Kane were restless 
while made to pursue those branches of study in 
which they felt little interest, and indulged by 



40 METHODS OF IN-STRUCTION". 

stealtli those special talents which God had given 
them. Educate together from their youth up such 
men as Plato and Aristotle, Kant and Goethe, New- 
ton and Biirns, La Place and Lamartine, Benjamin 
Franklin and Patrick Henry, and they might be 
made more alike, but would the world profit so 
much by their genius ? A wise system of education 
aims to render available all the mental force of the 
world. The mechanic may contrive and the mer- 
chant make his ventures, the farmer watch his 
harvests and the statesman promulgate his laws, the 
naturalist search and the philosopher speculate, the 
poet kindle the fires of genius upon their intended 
altars, and the prophet pluck down manna from 
Heaven to feed soul-hungry mortals — the world 
needs them all, and teachers must not attempt to 
thwart what God seems to have designed. But in 
all this it must be remembered that special talent 
may result from education as well as be the gift of 
nature, l^o fact is more open to the notice of an 
observer of the phenomena of mind than that mental 
force may be directed artificially to certain faculties 
which grow strong by use, while others are dwarfed 
for want of exercise. 

4. The Perceptive Powers are Stronger and 
MORE Active in Youth than the other intellec- 
tual FACULTIES AND THUS FURNISH A BASIS FOR THE 

SUPERSTRUCTURE OF KNOWLEDGE. — A child is merely 
an animal until there is awakened in him the power 
of self-consciousness. After this I can find no time 
when all his faculties are not active in some degree ; 
but his perceptive powers are the strongest and most 



COXDITIO:^IN"G PRINCIPLES. 41 

active during the whole period of childhood and 
youth. Any one who will observe children can 
scarcely doubt this fact. They like to see and hear 
things. What is new or strange attracts them. 
How rapidly they learn the form, color, size, and 
other qualities of things ! What an immense num- 
ber of facts they acquaint themselves with as they 
play in garden or yard, walk through field or 
meadow, or pass along street or highway ! 

We do not, as some have taught, derive all our 
knowledge from experience ; but no psychological 
truth is more obvious than that we cannot know 
anything without experience. For the attainment 
of certain necessary, regulative truths, experience 
may furnish only the occasion; but its necessity to 
the knowing process is not less real when it stands 
directly as the source of our knowing than when 
it stands indirectly as the occasion of it — when it 
determines the limit of our knowledge than when 
our knowledge transcends its limits. Experience 
therefore may be said to form the basis of know- 
leds^e. 

Conyincing reasons may be found in what has 
now been said, in favor of enlarging experience as 
much as possible by taking advantage in the work 
of education of the strong and active perceptive 
powers of the young. Let teachers make them ac- 
quainted with things, facts, phenomena, that they 
may have a broad basis upon which to erect the 
superstructure of 'knowledge. 

^ 5. COMMENCIXG WITH THE PERCEPTIVE PoWERS, 
THE VARIOUS INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES INCREASE IN 
4* 



42 methods of instruction". 

Eelative Strength in the following order : 
Memory, Recollection, Imagination, Under- 
standing, Reason. — It must not be understood that 
the first named of these faculties attains maturity 
while the others remain in a state of inactivity. 
Probably, a child in the simple act of refusing to put 
its hand against a hot stove to-day because yester- 
day it vras burned in doing it, makes use of all the 
faculties it ever will possess. Still these faculties 
are relatively stronger at some periods of life than 
at others, and this fact cannot be overlooked in 
teaching. 

As used -here, Memory is the power of retaining 
knowledge ; Recollection is the power by which we 
awaken what lies dormant in the mind; Imagina- 
tion is the power the mind has of holding up vividly 
before itself the thoughts which it has recalled into 
consciousness ; Understanding is the power by which 
we judge of relations ; and Reason is the power that 
gives birth to those necessary and universal princi- 
ples which control all thinking. It is proper to 
remark that this classification is essentially Hamil- 
ton's, and the definitions are, in part, his. 

It is evident that knowledge must be retained 
before it can be recalled, that it must be recalled 
before it can be held up for contemplation, that it 
must be held up before the mind before its relations 
can be judged of, and that the whole thinking pro- 
cess must go on before it can be controlled or regu- 
lated. Logically, therefore, the activities of the 
several faculties do follow an order of succession, 
but practically the whole goes on simultaneously. 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 43 

Still, as before stated, these activities differ relatively 
in degree during the different periods of life. 

l^ext to the Perceptive powers the Memory is the 
most vigorous intellectual faculty possessed by the 
young. It is the granary of the mind. Let it be 
well filled while it can be, as from its stores all the 
other faculties must take their materials. 

A little later the faculties of Recollection and 
Imagination are developed in full strength. Both 
are engaged in lifting up the elements of knowledge 
from the depths of the Memory and placing them 
in vivid pictures before the mind. The forms of 
the Imagination are, however, at first rude and 
fanciful, being yet unchastened by the higher powers 
of Judgment and Reason. 

The Understanding is the working power of the 
mind. It studies the relations of wholes to parts, 
parts to wholes, and things to one another. It 
classifies, generalizes, reasons. This power, al- 
though manifesting itself in a little child, does not 
attain maturity until the age of manhood. 

The Reason rules the mind. As soon as a child 
is conscious of the identity or difference of two 
objects, he must use his Reason; nor can he take a 
single step in any intellectual process w^ithout its 
aid. But, while this is true. Reason can never assume 
full sway until all the other intellectual faculties 
perform their work. A commanding general can- 
not wield the whole power of his army unless every 
subordinate officer and every private does his duty. 
Kone but a man intellectually full-grown can make 
a right use of his Reason, and the most difficult of 
all Philosophies is the Philosophy of Reason itself. 



44 methods of instruction. 

6. The Human Mind Possesses two Soukces of 
Knowledge, the Senses and the Season, the Pro- 
ducts OF WHICH Differ in Kind. — That we derive 
knowledge through the senses, no one doubts. It 
consists, in the first place of facts, which, however, 
may be -elaborated into systems of science. Know- 
ledge thus derived may be called empirical know- 
ledge, because its source is experience. 

That we possess knowledge which we do not 
derive through the senses must be evident to all 
who will consider the matter. Our idea of space, 
for example, is not merely the sum of all the spaces 
embraced in our experience, but it transcends all 
possible experience. So of the idea of time. We 
can acquaint ourselves with things that are very 
great in extent — the earth, the distances of the 
heavenly bodies, the profound abysses penetrated 
by the telescope, but still we know that all these 
are limited, finite, and we cannot help believing that 
there is something more, the unlimited, the infinite. 
i^o experience can show us that two straight lines 
cannot enclose a space, or that two parallel lines 
will never meet, and yet we know that such is the 
case. We may, indeed, have no adequate concep- 
tion of' the absolute or the infinite, of a creation, 
of God, or of immortality ; but certainly we have 
ground for thinking that there is something un- 
caused, something unlimited, that the universe had 
a beginning, that God is, and the human spirit is 
immortal. In every direction the intuitions of the 
Reason overleap the boundaries of experience, and 
furnish, at least, a ground for enlightened faith. 
As the Reason is the source of the kind of know- 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 45 

ledge now referred to, it may be called rational 
knowledge. 

Empirical knowledge includes all that concerns 
the qualities and quantities of things, the relations 
of substances and attributes, and causes and effects, 
and systems of inductive science. Rational know- 
ledge includes the universal and necessary princi- 
ples which condition the whole of the mind's opera- 
tions, which form the foundation of all Philosophy, 
properly so called, and upon which must rest all 
firm faith in ''things unseen." 

The value of what has just been said will be 
appreciated by the man}^ thinking teachers who 
lament the materialistic tendencies of some of our 
modern systems of education. All the knowledge 
that can be gained through the senses may be, but 
why should we close up that other fountain of the 
soul from which comes knowledge richer and 
purer? It will do us good to remember that "Man 
cannot live by bread alone." 

7. In ACQUIRING Knowledge the mind first dis- 
tinguishes ITS objects in kind, then in quantity, 
AND afterwards IN THEIR RELATIONS. — Perhaps the 
distinguishing of an object in kind involves some- 
what of the processes of distinguishing it in quan- 
tity, and in its relations ; but the arrangement as 
expressed is as correct as any serial arrangement 
of mental phenomena can be, and will be found to 
have much practical value in the work of education. 

A child first noticing objects, retains only that 
general impression of them which enables him to 
recognize them among other objects. Long after- 



46 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION". 

wards, it may be, he attends to them more closely, 
makes accurate measurements of the qualities he 
observes, or determines their quantities. Still later 
he learns to inquire into causes,' to look for ends, to 
estimate uses. 

Our investigations concerning what is new to us 
follow the same order. Take a crystal : we first dis- 
tinguish it from other things; then count its faces, 
measure its angles, test its structure ; and afterwards 
search for the causes which may have been opera- 
tive in its formation. Take heat : we bring it under 
observation as a distinct object; we invent thermom- 
eters to measure it, and then busy ourselves in find- 
ing a theory that will account for its facts. 

The genesis of science is in accordance with the 
same principle. Astronomy, in its beginnings, con- 
sisted of the loose observations ignorant men could 
make with the unaided vision. In course of time 
observations became more numerous and more 
exact until measurements were attempted ; and 
finally the speculations of Copernicus and Galileo, 
and the great discoveries of Kepler and Newton 
made the study of the stars, a science. Some facts, 
belonging to the science of chemistry, must have 
been possessed by the most ignorant savages ; these 
greatly multiplied would naturally attract the atten- 
tion of men in more highly civilized communities, 
who would set about determining their nature, their 
quantity ; and, by-and-by, laws would be discovered 
and a science begin to emerge from the confused 
mass of materials. The other sciences have grown 
up in the same way. 

8. The Katiocinative Faculty in ELABOKATiNa 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 47 

Systems of Science proceeds inductively or deduc- 
tively, AJ^ALYTICALLY OR SYNTHETICALLY. — I USe the 

expression ratiocinative faculty to designate a specific 
application of the faculty of the Understanding; 

Starting out with the products of the Senses and 
the Reason, two modes of dealing with them are 
possible. We can commence with particular phe- 
nomena, and proceed to find the general laws which 
comprehend them. This is Induction. It is a 
process of involution. 

We can commence with general or universal 
truths, and proceed to find the particular truths 
which are embodied in them. This is Deduction. 
It is a process of evolution. 

All reasoning must be either inductive or deduc- 
tive. We can take wholes and unfold their parts, 
or we can take parts and unite them into wholes, 
but all thinking in judgments must assume one or 
the other of these forms. Logicians use but two 
kinds of syllogism, the inductive and the deductive. 

Analysis and synthesis are the servants of induc- 
tion and deduction. Analysis is the separation of a 
whole into the elements which compose it. Syn- 
thesis is the composition of a whole from the parts 
which belong to it. An observer noticing a phe- 
nomenon which he wishes to understand, simplifies 
it by division, and then infers the law that controls 
it. Thus his power of induction is aided by analysis. 
Or he may have discovered a number of difierent 
laws relating to phenomena and desire to combine 
them all into a system of science, and this can be 
done only by the process of multiplication. Thus 
Ms power of induction is aided by synthesis. The 



48 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 

general or universal principles with which deduction 
begins imply in their very names the existence of 
special or conditioned principles, from which they 
can be discriminated only by a process of analysis. 
Thus analysis aids deduction. A deductive science 
like Geometry is made up of a system of truths de- 
pending upon axioms^ definitions, and preceding 
demonstrations, and is a work of synthesis. Thus 
synthesis aids deduction. 

Systems of science, therefore, must be elaborated 
by the methods of induction and deduction aided 
by those of analysis and synthesis, and the methods 
used in constructing systems of science must also be 
used in teaching them. 

9. The Acquisitive Powers of the Mind in get- 
ting Knowledge operate according to certain 
Laws of Suggestion. — The laws of suggestion are 
operative in the search for original knowledge. We 
begin to make observations upon a particular object, 
directly it ^Dresents itself in another point of view, 
and then in still another ; and thus we are led for- 
ward in a series of successive steps. Or from one 
object, we may pass to another, and then to others, 
neglecting many but selecting some, which upon an 
examination of the train will be found to follow 
one another according to some principle of sugges- 
tion. Series of experiments, too, are mostly carried 
on in the same way, the first suggesting the second, 
and the second the third, and so to the end. That 
the mind thus proceeds in getting knowledge by 
means of observation and experiment there can be 
no doubt. Suggestion of a different kind may lead 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 49 

it on from one set of reasonings to anotlier, but still 
this higher work of the mind may be considered as 
proceeding according to the same law. 

The laws of suggestion are operative in the study 
of acquired knowledge. It is associated facts that 
most attract children and most engage their atten- 
tion. Present them as isolated statements and they 
will be forgotten, weave them into a narrative or 
story, and they impress themselves on the memory 
forever. The advance in study is most rapid where 
the facts to be learned are systematically arranged, 
when all the parts of the sciences under considera- 
tion follow one another in a logical order. 

It follows from what has been said that teachers 
should understand the laws of suggestion, and take 
advantage of them in imparting knowledge. 

10. The Eeproductive Powers of the Mind by 
MEANS OF Laws of Association enable it to recall 
ITS Knowledge and to hold it up in vivid Pictures 
before it. — Every one is aware that his thoughts 
are not isolated, but that each is a link in a chain. 
It is proper to speak of a train of thought. Some cir- 
cumstance suggests a thought, that suggests another, 
and so on in a ceaseless flow. Or we can hold up 
before the mind one conception or element of 
thought, and immediately other conceptions or 
elements of thought crowd about it and appear in 
connected or related clusters. 

Sir William Hamilton says that '' thoughts are 
associated, or able to excite each other; 1st, if co- 
existent, or immediately successive in time ; 2d, if 
their objects are conterminous, or adjoining in space ; 

5 



50 METHODS OF INSTEUCTION. 

3d, if they hold the dependence to each other of 
cause and effect, or of mean and end, or of whole 
and part ; 4th, if they stand in a relation either of 
contrast or of similarity ; 5th, if they are the opera- 
tions of the same power, or of different powers con- 
versant about the same object; 6th, if their objects 
are the sign and the thing signified ; or 7th, even 
if their objects are accidentally denoted by the same 
sound. These laws may be reduced in number, but 
they seem more easily applied as stated. They must 
condition the whole work of imparting knowledge. 
Questions cannot be asked by a teacher, nor can 
answers be given by pupils skilfully without ob- 
serving them. They determine the order of arrange- 
ment in both science and art. 

11. The Productive Powers of the Mind enable 

it to make neay discoveries and new inventions. 

Pacts disprove the doctrine of those w^ho maintain 
that there is nothing new, that what seems new is 
but the revival of the old which had been forgotten. 
Ideas may not be innate, but we have innate powers 
of mental production. There can be originality in 
this sense, that one man may think something that 
no other man ever thought. Apparent chance may 
present a fact, or occasion a circumstance, which a 
thousand men will pass by unheeding, but at last 
one comes that way to whom its language is intelli- 
gible, and the world is blessed with a new discovery, 
or a new invention — a law of gravitation or a steam- 
engine. The mind has productive powers. It is 
not like a mirror reflecting back only what is pre- 
sented before it. It is an active principle, capable 



CONDITIOXI^'G PRINCIPLES. 51 

of guiding its own exertions, capable of making 
plans, capable of searching for truth and of apply- 
ing it to new uses, and expressing it in new forms. 
Such powers ought not to rust away in inactivity. 

12. The Human Intellect Grows only by its 
OWN Inherent Energies. — All true education is a 
growth. The mind is not a mere capacity to be 
filled like a granary, it is a power to be developed. 
It is no tabula rasa — no blank sheet of paper to be 
written upon, but it has innate activities which 
prompt it towards its end, and cause it to modify all 
with which it comes in contact. The horticulturist 
puts his seed in good soil, surrounds the plants with 
circumstances most favorable to their growth (a 
j)roper degree of heat, light, and moisture), protects 
them from injuries, and expects his crop. He knows 
that the life-principle which God placed in the seed 
needs but opportunity to grow. The mind must re- 
ceive a like culture. When the human body needs 
food the healthy appetite craves it, and if taken 
into the stomach without such craving, it is apt to 
clog the system rather than to nourish it. IS'either 
can the mind be forced to digest its food. Even an 
unprofessional diagnosis reveals the fact that there 
are many cases of mental dyspepsia in our schools. 
A desire to know is the mental appetite, and the 
gratification of this desire must be a primary condi- 
tion for all normal growth of the intellect. 

13. The Acts of Men do not derive their Moral 
Quality from the Intellect. — The best fruit of the 
intellect is science, and the principles of science 



52 METHODS OF INSTEUCTION. 

cannot be said to be rigbt or wrong — they are simply 
truths. The intellect, indeed, enables us to com- 
prehend moral as well as other truths, but, in the 
mere comprehension of a moral truth, I can detect 
no moral element. 

It must not be inferred, however, that intellectual 
culture has no relation to moral and religious cul- 
ture. It is intellectual culture that renders moral 
and religious culture possible. The intellect is the 
eye of the soul, and all our seeing earthward and 
heavenward is done by it. It is the intellect that 
reveals God in His works, in His Word, and in the 
human soul. A man may be pious and know little 
of the principles of science, but he must have sources 
of light Avithin himself. 

The culture of the intellect must precede all other 
culture. We must acquaint ourselves with acts 
before we can judge whether they are right or 
wrong. We must know that God is, before we can 
love him. A knowledge of the important Psycho- 
logical fact, that the intellectual capacity of the 
mind acts of itself in the presence of its objects, 
and that the emotive and executive capacities await 
the action of the intellect, would have enabled mis- 
sionaries to understand, long before they found it 
out by costly experience, that schools must precede 
churches in heathen countries in order to make their 
labors most effectual. The principle is applicable 
everywhere. 

14. The Intellect of Man has Limits which no 
Extent of Education can enable it to pass. — In 
all human reasoning something has to be taken for 



CONDITIONING PEINCIPLES. 53 

granted. The most profound logic can neither take 
us back to a beginning nor lead us forward to an 
end. Looking backward, successions in nature seem 
like an endless chain of effects and causes, and, 
looking forward, they seem like an endless chain of 
causes and effects. We can think successive periods 
in time or points in space uiitil the imagination 
grows weary with the vast summation, but still there 
is more beyond. We can mount the great ladder 
of successive causes until our heads grow dizzy, and 
yet we fail to form an adequate conception of the 
absolute. Finite ourselves we cannot measure the 
infinite. 

All that is said in the preceding paragraph is 
true, and yet it does not express the exact limita- 
tions of human thought. We cannot measure the 
infinite, but toe can think in all directio7is beyond the 
finite. Our idea of space is not filled by the sum 
of all experienced spaces, nor our idea of time by 
the sum of all experienced times. We feel thiit 
there are more links in the chain of causation than 
can be counted. We cannot indeed by searching- 
find out God, but we can know that He exists. "A 
Deity understood" says Sir William Hamilton, 
"would be no Deity at all." The highest effort of 
reason is to furnish a ground for faith. We have a 
clear view up to the boundaries of the finite and the 
relative, and then we are permitted — glorious privi- 
lege ! — to know that the infinite and the absolute, 
the unconditioned — lie beyond. The conviction 
that we have power in thought to overleap the con- 
ditioned, results from no mere blind consciousness, 
as some have said, but it is certain 'knowledge. We 
5^ 



54 METHODS OF INSTEUCTION. 

see the light but we cannot approach or analyze it. 
Our reason gives us a firm ground for belief in the 
existence of God, but here we must be content with 
an imperfect knowledge of Him. 

II. Principles Inferable from the Nature of 
Knowledge. 

I mean by knowledge the means made use of in 
the work of education. These means exist both in 
the form of ascertained and unascertained truth. A 
teacher may content himself in making his pupils 
acquainted with what knowledge he finds in books 
and what he knows himself, or he, may lead them 
to try their strength in wrenching new truth from 
nature ; but whether ascertained truth be taught or 
unascertained truth be sought for, the nature of the 
truth employed will vary the methods of imparting 
it. The principle that the methods of operating 
upon a thing are modified by the means used in the 
operation, is susceptible of many illustrations. The 
farmer considers the nature of his fertilizers before 
he adopts a method of applying them upon his fields, 
the physician regards the properties of his medicines 
in his . methods of administering them, and the 
mechanic handles his jack-plane in one way and 
his hand-saw in another. That the teacher must 
perform his work in obedience to the same principle 
will be abundantly proven to one who will consider 
the propositions which follow. 

1. The several branches oe Knowledge can be 
made to furnish the intellectual faculties with 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 55 

Exercise proper in jcind and quantity. — The intel- 
lectual faculties grow only by exercising them, and 
bountiful provision is made for sucli exercise. It is 
furnished by noting the vast multitude of facts and 
phenomena with which we become aquainted our- 
selves or of which we learn from others, and by the 
study of N^atural Science, Language, Mathematics, 
Metaphysics, History. In this manner the Senses, 
Perception, Memory, Recollection, Imagination, Un- 
derstanding and Reason can all receive due exercise. 
All this will be clear to any one who will analyze a 
branch of knowledge, and learn how its several parts 
adapt themselves to the different intellectual facul- 
ties. The intellectual faculties, however, will not 
grow stronger without effort. A merely passive state 
of mind weakens it. We must knock at the door of 
knowledge before it will be opened. We must 
smite heavily the rock of truth before its fountains 
will gush forth their waters for the thirsting spirit. 
Mature everywhere ignores the indolent. She eats 
away their strength as rust destroys iron. I^or will 
it do to look on while others work. 'No Sedan 
chairs can be used for carrying passengers along the 
paths that lead to the temple of knowledge. Labor 
is the inexorable condition of success in study. 

Knowledge, too, is easy or difficult and thus adapts 
itself both to the weak and the strong. Many of 
nature's facts and phenomena appear openly to the 
senses, but more require careful searching to find 
them. She allows some truths to lie loosely upon 
the surface, but others she conceals deep down in 
her very heart. Both a child and a philosopher may- 
observe an apple fall from a tree, or a soap-bubble 



06 METHODS OF IXSTKUCTION. 

float away in the sunliglit, and each iind suitable 
intellectual exercise in so doing. The great is every- 
where found in the little, and the little in the great, 
that the intellect in its several stages of growth may 
have exercise proper in kind and quantity. 

2. Educational Means can be found adapted to 
GIVE Culture to every Capability of Mind. — A 
plant is beautifully adapted to the circumstances 
that surround its growth. It needs mineral ele- 
ments, and its little rootlets seek and find them in 
the soil. It feeds on gases, and millions of minute 
pore-mouths suck them in. It needs moisture, and 
the rain falls about it. It needs heat and light, 
and the sunshine warms its roots and plays among 
its branches. So, too, an adaptation exists be- 
tween our intellectual wants and the means of 
supplying them. Each distinct intellectual faculty 
requires a difl:erent kind of culture, but educational 
means are as diversified as the wants they are 
intended to supply. 

We have senses, and there are things to be seen, 
and heard, and handled. We have perception, and 
there are objects and phenomena that constantly, 
and on' every hand, attract observation and court 
examination. We have memory, and the world is 
full of things to be remembered — the object-matter 
of science and art, the words of language, the facts 
of history, the products of all that the mind does. 
We have recollection and imagination, and the 
stores of the memory must be brought forth, held 
up for contemplation, and represented in new forms. 
We have Understanding, and the whole work of 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 57 

elaborating systems of science — forming classes, 
making generalizations, and demonstrating princi- 
ples, must be done. We have reason, and we know 
there is something beyond the conditioned, universal, 
and necessary principles, and a Being with infinite 
perfections, God. If any intellectual power lacks 
in discipline, it is not because means are wanting 
adapted to the purpose. 

3. No GOD-CONSTITUTED DIFFERENCE OF MeNTAL CON- 
STITUTION IS LEFT UNPROVIDED FOR IN THE WeALTH OF 

Means which the Creator intended to be used for 
THE Purposes of Education. — All men are not 
naturally alike in taste or talent. To discharge the 
various duties of life different kinds of ability are 
required. Unity in diversity seems to be E'ature's 
greatest maxim. 

If God made men unlike, did He provide means 
for preserving the difterence ? It cannot be doubted 
that some men are peculiarly fitted to observe and 
investigate the works of nature, and to build up 
systems of natural science ; and is not their field of 
labor boundless ? There are men who seem spe- 
cially endowed with a talent for Mathematics, can 
they ever exhaust the laws which may be evolved 
from number and form ? There are men whose 
penetrating glance can pierce the shifting phe- 
nomena of sense, and perceive the very foundations 
and ends of things. Philosophers — and surely things 
have foundations and ends. Are there no materials 
left out of which Poetry and Music can be made ? 
none that the artist can express on canvass or in 



58 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 

marble ? Has God so fully revealed Himself that 
prophecies are no longer possible ? 

The answer to all these questions is easy. The 
creation is infinite in all directions. E'o one man 
can explore the whole of it. ~^o one man can per- 
form all the world's work. If all men were simi- 
larly endowed with talents, or gifted with tastes, 
there must come a time when all progress would 
cease. Divide labor, let each do what he can do 
best, give all employment, and this field of life will 
bring forth its most abundant harvests. With such 
an arrangement need any one be idle ? ITot until 
the finite becomes the infinite. 

Much is said in w^orks on education in regard to 
the harmonious culture of our mental faculties. If 
it is merely meant that all our faculties should 
receive due culture, the sentiment is faultless ; but 
if it is meant that each individual should receive an 
even culture, that the powers of his mind should 
be balanced, that the chief business of education 
consists in suppressing talents where talents have 
been given, and attempting to create talents where 
talents have been denied, I must be permitted to 
enter my protest against the doctrine. The interests 
of science and the duties of life no less than our 
diversity of gifts forbid it. 

What is above said applies to the difference re- 
quired in the education of the sexes. Individuals 
may learn wdiatever they are capable of learning. 
The tastes and talents God gave to women they may 
use as well as men ; and just so far as their tastes 
and talents differ from those of men should their 
education differ. It need scarcely be added that all 



CONDITIONING PEINCIPLES. 59 

women can find fit food for tlieir mental appetites 
as well as all men. 

4. ISTature presents to the Inquirer, first the 

CbNCRETE, AND THEN THE ABSTRACT ; FIRST ThINGS, AND 

THEN Words or Signs for Things ; first Facts and 
Phenomena, and then Laws and Principles; first 
Wholes, and then Parts and Collections of Wholes 
— thus indicating to the Teacher the propriety of 
confining his Elementary Instruction mainly to 
Lessons on Objects whose properties can be 
directly perceived, for the purpose of making the 
Experience of the Young as extensive as possi- 
ble. — The perceptive are relatively tlie strongest 
intellectual faculties possessed by the young, and 
they are the first to be made use of in the search 
for knowledge. 

l^ature presents to the inquirer first the concrete 
and then the abstract. This is true of course with 
respect to all objects of i^Tatural History ; but it is 
also true of the so-called abstract sciences. The 
first step in Arithmetic was counting the fingers or 
counting something else. The first step in Geometry 
was the measurement of land. The first Music was 
the song of birds or the tones of the human voice. 

K'ature presents first things and then words or 
sisrns for thinsrs. All that we know of the oris^in of 
language goes to confirm this view. Many corres- 
pondences are found in the primitive languages, 
and some in all languages, between the sounds of 
words and the things signified by them. Qualities 
were noticed and then names applied. The Bible 



60 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION". 

tells US, too, that animals were brought before Adam 
to see what he would call them. 

ISTature presents first facts and phenomena, and 
then laws and principles. The genesis of all science 
is confirmatory of this statement. It is true that 
when a science reaches a certain stage of advance- 
ment and its laws and principles become well- 
established, they can be applied to new facts and 
phenomena; but science in its earlier stages of 
growth is now alone in question. 

Nature presents first wholes and then parts and 
collections of wholes. The whole of an object 
must be observed before it can be analyzed into 
parts ; and the mind must pass from one individual 
whole to others before it can make a synthesis of 
the collection. 

If these statements are true, they must have an 
important bearing upon elementary education. JSTa- 
ture plainly indicates the first steps in learning. To 
attempt to teach in contravention of her plan is to 
damage the intellect under training, and to lay a 
foundation upon which science can never rest 
securely. The great aim of elementary education 
should be to communicate the elements of know- 
ledge — to make more extensive the experience of 
the young. 

5. E"ature opens up her Truths in a certain 
order and that order must be followed in investi- 
GATION AND Study. — The elements of all knowledge 
are cotemporary in origin. A child may begin the 
study of all branches of science, for in their begin- 
nings all seem equally simple. Progress in science 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 61 

is from a united base to divided brandies, or from 
the homogeneous to the heterogeneous. The ob- 
servations a child may make as he stands in a garden 
or walks throusch a meadow will serve as the first 
steps in all kinds of learning. From this root 
several trunks spring, and divide and subdivide like 
the branches of a tree. 

The object-matter of knowledge is arranged like 
successive strata, that beneath not being approacha- 
able except by passing through that above. First, 
we find qualities and facts disconnected and frag- 
mentary. They lie upon the surface. Deeper down 
we find other facts and other qualities. Second, we 
notice the likeness and unlikeness of things. They 
appear to us in clusters or classes. Those we notice 
first are very apparent, but identity and difiFerence 
extend down to the very heart of things. Third, 
we begin to see that particulars can be reduced to 
generals, that individuals belong to classes, and 
species to genera, that many phenomena are the 
result of a single law. 'No limits can be fixed to 
this work. Fourth, seeing efifects, we search for 
causes, We . inquire why ? and wherefore ? We 
construct syllogisms and carry on processes of rea- 
soning. No end can be found to the chain of causa- 
tive. Fifth, we realize that something exists that 
no process of reasoning can reach — that we can think 
things that we could never know by experience ; 
that we can catch glimpses, at least, of. the infinite, 
the pure, and the perfect. Here we find God, and 
our work is done. 

I cannot claim that what has just been said is an 
accurate expression of the order in which the mind 

6 



62 METHODS OF INSTEUCTIOK. 

proceeds in acquainting itself Avitli the object-matter 
of knowledge, for I well know that more or fewer 
steps may be made ; but I think it will convey to 
the mind of the reader with sufficient clearness the 
great educational truth under consideration. 

The contents of a text-book must be arranged in 
accordance with the law now stated. In commenc- 
ing the study of a branch of learning, it is clear 
that there is a first step which should be taken, a 
second that ought to follow, and this introduces a 
third; and so a whole subject, to be properly studied, 
must be made up of a series of logically connected 
parts. A pupil enters school knowing something. 
The teacher must acquaint himself with what his 
pupil knows, and then detach from what is unknown 
to him appropriate matter, and link the known and 
the unknown together. 

6. The Empirical and the Rational Sciences 
REQUIRE Different Methods of Instruction. — 
Knowledge has two sources, the Senses and the 
Keason. All science based upon the evidence of 
experience may be call Empirical sci-ence, and all 
science based upon the intuitions of the Reason may 
be called Rational science. Methods of teaching 
these two classes of sciences are different. 

An Empirical science differs from a Rational 
science in its data^ in its end^ and in its j^roc^sses of 
reasoning. The data of an Empirical science are 
facts ; its end is the attainment of general laws, and 
its processes of reasoning are inductive. The data of 
a Rational science are necessary and universal princi- 
ples or ideas; its end is the attainment of particular 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 63 

principles, or less general ideas, and its processes of 
reasoning are deductive. Chemistry is an Empirical 
science, and Geometry, including its axioms and 
definitions, has the form of a Rational science; to 
those acquainted with the nature of both no further 
exposition is necessary. 

There are two modes by which an Empirical 
science may be taught. By the first, facts are pre- 
sented, and then the laws that may be inferred from 
them. By the second, an hypothesis may be 
assumed, and afterwards search may be made for 
the facts by which it can be tested ; or laws, fully 
established, may be stated to the unlearned in the 
form of propositions, and the facts upon which they 
rest adduced to prove them. In the more advanced 
stages of an Empirical science, it is possible to an- 
ticipate the existence of unascertained facts from a 
knowledge of the general laws which must control 
them. In the first mode there are given facts to 
find laws, and in the second there are given laws, 
either ascertained or hypothecated, to find facts. 

There are likewise two modes of teachino^ a 
Rational science. The necessary and universal prin- 
ciples which form the data of such a science may be 
first communicated, and this may be followed by 
the demonstration of the particular truths contained 
in them. This is the first mode. A particular truth 
or principle may be assumed, and the proof of it 
be sought for in the necessary and universal princi- 
ples of which it is a part. This is the second mode. 
The first mode consists in the evolution of the con- 
tents of axioms, definitions, intuitions of the reason ; 
the second consists in demonstrating particular 



64 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 

truths, by showing their conformity with universal 
and necessary truth. 

The two modes of teaching an Empirical science 
differ from the two modes of teaching a Rational 
science. Take the modes first named with reference 
to each, and compare them. The source of our 
knowledge of facts is the Senses, the source of our 
knowledge of universal and necessary principles is 
the Reason. When we infer general laws from par- 
ticular facts we proceed in one way, inductively; but 
when we attempt to analyze the pure products of 
the Reason we proceed in quite another, deduc- 
tively. The conclusion in one case is but the gen- 
eralization of experience and cannot extend beyond 
the facts observed, while in, the other the conclusion 
is exact and positive knowledge. 

The same differences will appear if we compare 
the two modes last mentioned. Starting out with 
an hypothesis or an ascertained law in Empirical 
Science may be the same as commencing with the 
assumption of a particular trath in a Rational 
Science, but here the similarity between the two 
modes of procedure ends, for proving a principle 
by facts differs very materially from demonstrating 
it by reasoning. 

7. The First Form of Instruction must be 
Qualitative, next Quantitative, and then a Com- 
parison OF Relations. — Things are known only by 
their qualities. They are the Alphabet of nature. 
They are the medium of introduction between that 
which is to know and that which is to be known. 

The first form of instruction must be qualitative. 



CONDITIOJnXG PRINCIPLES. 65 

Mark liow a child learns. He perceives that things 
are hard or soft, large or small, few or many, long 
or short, tough or brittle, hot or cold, white or black, 
red or yellow, heavy or light, sweet or sour, w^ithout 
at all stopping to measure their several degrees. 
He distinguishes objects from one another by their 
kind of qualities. He will learn for instance to 
distinguish a horse from a cow before he can dis- 
tinguish horses or cows from one another. The 
same thing may be inferred from the language of a 
child, as his first speech is made up of words which 
stand for man. dog, clock, cat, &c., &c. He even uses 
pa and ma in a general sense. All this goes to prove 
the truth that stands at the head of this paragraph, 
and suggests lessons on objects, lessons on form, 
consistency, color, and the qualities of things gen- 
erally. 

The second form which instruction should take 
is quantitative. After having observed a quality 
we soon begin to limit it — to limit it in space, in 
time, and in degree. We inquire how large or how 
small? how long or how short? how much or how 
little ? We invent weights, measures, coins. It is 
evident that to learn quantities requires closer, more 
precise, better defined thought than to observe quali- 
ties ; and such thought is necessary to build up a 
science. When children have learned the qualities 
of objects, let them be made to attend to them more 
closely, to quantify them. They should not merely 
name the form of an object, but tell its length, 
breadth and thickness ; not merely say that a thing 
is large or small but state how large or how small ; 
they should be taught to measure in ounces and 
6* 



66 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 

pounds, in pints and quarts, in shades, in degrees, 
and in numbers. 

After instruction lias passed tlirougli the qualita- 
tive and quantitative stages, its further progress 
must be by a comparison of relations. "We discri- 
minate qualities and measure quantities by compari- 
son, but this kind of comparison is not a comparison 
of relations. We employ such a comparison when 
we compare causes and effects, means and ends, and 
the inherent identities and differences of things ; and 
such a comparison is only possible when we are in 
possession of the qualities and quantities used as data 
in our reasoning. All works of science, properly so 
called, are the results of a comparison of relations, and 
the teacher has, therefore, ample material for impart- 
ing the kind of instruction implied in the premises. 

8. As CONDITIONED BY THE EeLATIONS OF THE 

Object-matter of Knowledge, Methods or Teach- 
ing MUST BE Inductive or Deductive, Analytical 
OR Synthetical. — The whole objective world is made 
up of existences and the laws which control them. 
Science is made up of such of these as men have 
been able to observe and find out. Induction means 
ascending from facts to principles, and this method 
may be adopted in teaching. 

When in the possession of the generalizations of 
induction, we can use them in the interpretation of 
new facts and phenomena, and this process is some- 
times called deduction, but it is rather a part of 
induction and is so considered here. 'No science 
can be well taught without its use. 

It has been shown that the intuitions of the Reason 



CONDITIONING PEINCIPLES. 67 

enable us to apprehend certain necessary and uni- 
versal principles and that these contain other prin- 
ciples embodied in them. Deduction, as I under- 
stand it, is the evolution of particular principles 
from necessary and universal principles, and as such 
must be the method of study in all the Eational 
Sciences. Properly there is no induction in Mathe- 
matics or Logic, and surely there is none in Ethics 
or Esthetics. 

As the inductive is the only method applicable 
to the Empirical Sciences, and the deductive is the 
only method applicable to the Rational Sciences, 
and as all science may be included in these classes, 
it follows that methods of teaching must be either 
inductive or deductive. 

Apart from mere perception or intuition, every 
operation we are capable of performing upon the 
object-matter of knowledge maybe generalized into 
the processes of multiplication and division. In our 
investigations of nature, she never presents herself 
to us in her minutest subdivisions. With solvents, 
dissecting-knives, and microscopes we must search 
for these. Earth, water, air, animal and vegetable 
organisms are made to yield up their hidden ele- 
ments. This is the process of division or analysis. 

I^ature does not anywhere, to our view, complete 
herself. She ignores fractions. We see a number 
of her animals, her plants, her rocks, her stars, and 
infer the rest. We laboriously search out laws and 
truths and combine what we discover into systems 
of science ; but, at best, we know little in com- 
parison with what remains unknown. Science 
grows ; every day adds something to the world's 



68 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION". 

stock of knowledge. Tins is the process of multi- 
plication, or synthesis. 

All knowledge, as presented in books for study, 
is a synthesis. The materials of which such know- 
ledge is made up, howeyer, must haye been obtained 
mainly by means of analysis. If in teaching a 
science we follow the method by which it grew up, 
the process must be synthetical, but if we take it as 
it is, and diyide and subdiyide it into parts until we 
find the elements upon which it is based, the process 
is analytical. Both processes are equally legitimate, 
and both should be used in almost eyery lesson. 
Authors of text-books are accustomed to apply the 
terms analytical and synthetical to their works with 
yery little judgment. Both analysis and synthesis 
must be made use of in writing a text-book on any 
subject, and in teaching it, and no other methods 
haying the same aim are possible. 

9. The Object-Matter of Knowledge, as it 

EXISTS IN IN'aTURE, IS SO CONNECTED AND ARRANGED 

AS TO Facilitate its Acquisition. — The suggestive 
powers of the mind and the connections of matter 
correlate. We can imagine a world with its parts 
confused, disjointed, fragmentary. In ours complete 
isolation is unknown. TJie motto E plurihus unum 
could nowhere be so well applied as to the uniyerse. 
It is the connections and relations of natural 
objects that render science possible. Surely there 
is a foundation in the things themselyes for the for- 
mation of classes, genera, and species. If a student 
makes the acquaintance of one fact, that will intro- 
duce him to another, and so on in endless succession. 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 69 

ITature is arranged like a suit of rooms, each with a 
door opening to the next, A student in sympathy 
with nature hears voices caUing him, and sees hands 
beckoning him on at every step in his progress, and 
before him ever floats "the banner with the strange 
device, excelsior.'' 

If the object-matter of knowledge, as it exists in 
nature, is so connected and arranged as to facilitate 
its acquisition, so may it be in text-books. A text- 
book ought to present a subject in its natural order 
and connections. One point, or one topic, or one 
lesson ought to suggest the next. It may be well in 
teaching sometimes to put questions concerning 
things apart from their connections, but it is best to 
first teach them in their connections. 

10. The Matter of Knowledoe, as it lies in the 
Memory, has Connections and Relations which 
Increase its Availability. — If the connections 
and relations of knowledge are observed in acquiring 
it, it will preserve these connections and relations 
as it lies in the memory, and the same conditions 
that rendered its acquisition more easy, will also aid 
in making it available. In addition, however, there 
are other laws which apply to acquired knowledge 
that do not apply to the objective realities from 
which it was derived. Things originally discon- 
nected or unrelated, may have been learned at the 
same time, or in such way as to link them together 
in the memory. Besides, the laws of association 
seem constantly operative in assorting the materials 
of knowledge as they exist in the mind. They bring 
like things together, and separate things that are 



70 METHODS OF I^TSTRUCTION. 

unlike. A well disciplined memory has a place for 
everything, and keeps everything in its place. 

If the object-matter of knowledge, as it lies in the 
memory, has such connections and relations as have 
now been pointed out, they must make it more 
available. A man of business can settle an account 
in a few moments, it may be, if all the papers relat- 
ing to it are kept together, but, if they are scattered 
about, hours may be occupied in doing the same 
work, and even then it may be done inaccurately. 
It is just so with the materials of knowledge as they 
lie in the memory. These materials are too vast to 
be dealt with as individual things, they can only be 
made available to the powers which recall and hold 
them up for contemplation, by forming them into 
trains, arranging them in clusters, uniting them in 
series, or associating them in classes. Teachers, 
who would not see much of their labor lost, must 
conduct their work mindful of these facts. 

11. New Discoveries in Science and ]^ew Inven- 
tions IN the Arts are still possible, and Methods 
OF Instruction should prompt the Young to make 
them. — Discoveries are constantly being made in 
all departments of science. ITever before was the 
progress of science so rapid. The harvest seems 
ripe, and every reaper is blessed with a share of 
fruit. And still all that has been done is little in 
comparison with what remains to be done. 

What is true in the field of science is true also 
in the field of art. It may be that the same rapid 
progress is not apparent with respect to the Fine 
Arts, but it is especially manifest in all departments 



CONDITIONING PEINCIPLES. 71 

of the Mechanic and Useful Arts ; and still every 
day human ingenuity brings to light some new 
invention. 

I take it that education means something more 
than merely conning the facts and repeating the 
reasonings of text-hooks. If properly instructed, 
pupils will desire to look beyond what they have 
been taught, or what they have simply learned. 
They will feel that work has been left for them to 
do, and they will desire to do it. The highest aim 
of teaching is not to store the mind with the ac- 
cumulated knowledge of ages, but to arm it with 
energy and skill ; not to enable pupils merely to 
solve problems in Mathematics, construe sentences 
in Grammar, or answer questions in Philosophy, 
but to inspire them with a love of study, to awaken 
in their minds an animating, life-giving power, that 
does not rest satisfied with present attainments but 
is ever striving to open up new truths, to express 
new beauty, or to contrive new ways of lessening 
labor or eftecting good. 

Few, if any, great thinkers were* ever made by 
books. A mathematician very inferior to IN'ewton 
or La Place can follow the reasoning of the Principia 
or the Mecanique Celeste. Bacon and Locke are 
read by school-boys who talk flippantly of the In- 
ductive Philosophy and the doctrine of Innate Ideas. 
When once conquered, nature's noblest truths grow 
comparatively tame. To secure the best mental 
discipline, we teach too much at second-hand. We 
rely too much upon books. We sufler the mind's 
productive powers to lie too nearly dormant. We 
follow too closely in the paths beaten by others to 



72 METHODS OF INSTKUCTION. 

gain the advantage of that vigorous self- thinking, 
which is necessary to wrench new truth from nature. 
Those methods of teaching should be adopted which 
would throw pupils most upon their own resources, 
which would call out all the originality that they 
may possess, which would lead them to repeat the 
experiments and verify the conclusions of others, 
and urge them on to add their mite to the sum of 
human knowledge and human ingenuity. 

12. ISTature everywhere courts Investigation by 
A System of Attractions which enlist the Atten- 
tion, AND induce Increased Activity in the Powers 
BY which we Remember, Reflect, Reason and 
Philosophize ; and, therefore. Methods of Teaching 
SHOULD BE Suggestive. — Pupils should not be made 
mere passive recipients of knowledge. Many teachers 
tell too much. They communicate facts, answer 
questions, solve problems, and their pupils receive 
their instruction in blank wonder or stupid indiffer- 
ence. "With such teaching knowledge is merely 
received like grain into a granary or freight into 
the hold. of a ship. Such teachers are like apothe- 
caries or grocers, and simply deal out their stock in 
trade to their waiting customers. At the best they 
can only store the memory with facts which must 
lie there, cumbrous, undigested, and useless. 

The search for knowledge should not be charac- 
terized by a blind activity on the part of the pupil. 
"We have just seen that a teacher may aid his pupils 
too much, it is just as true that he may aid them 
too little. A due regard to the economy of the 
mental forces will not admit of their useless expendi- 



CONDITIOXIXG PRINCIPLES. 73 

ture. Pupils T\'itliout direction as to what or how 
to study may waste their time in fruitless efforts. 
A traveller in a strange city without a guide may 
easily lose his strength in ill-directed efforts to find 
his way, so a timely hint from a teacher may relieve 
a pupil from a difficulty that is wearing away his 
time and wear^dng his patience without conducing 
to any useful end. The teacher can guide his pupil 
without carrying him along, he can direct his work 
without performing it, he can pilot his hark without 
doing all the rowing. 

Progress in study should not be merely mechani- 
cal. It is easily possible for pupils to go over studies 
without learning them. Their progress is measured 
too often by the quantity of the work looked at, 
rather than the quality of the work done. Some 
teachers are at great pains to relieve their pupils 
from the trouble of thinking. They are constantly 
watchful to remove every difficulty from their path- 
way, and, by leading questions, make them seem to 
know that of which in reality they are ignorant. If 
learning could be obtained in this way, the road to * 
it would be a "royal" one — a kind of rail-road, 
ready-graded and well provided with cars and mo- 
tive power, to transport swiftly along those who are 
in search of Iviiowledge, and who meanwhile can sit 
or sleep. 

In opposition to those methods of teaching which 
make the condition of the learner one of passive 
reception, one of blind activity, or one of mechanical 
progression, we say that methods of teaching should 
be suggestive — should prompt pupils to earnest self- 
exertion. Facts should be communicated in such a 



74 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 

manner as to suggest other facts; one eiFort in 
reasoning, stimulate to other eftbrts ; one trial of 
strength, induce other trials; one difficulty over- 
come, excite an ambition to triumph over other 
difficulties. The teacher should create interest in 
study, incite curiosity, promote inquiry, prompt in- 
vestigation, inspire self-confidence, give hints, make 
suggestions, tempt pupils on to try their strength 
and test their skill. 

ITature teaches according to the suggestive method. 
The phenomena of animal and vegetable organisms 
of earth, and air, and sky, are so many hints to in- 
duce man to investigate her mysteries. Grecian 
artists take a hint from plants and trees, and Doric 
alid Corinthian columns adorn their country's proud- 
est cities ; Kewton takes a hint from a falling apple, 
and the ponderous planets roll in harmonious gran- 
deur about the universe, in obedience to his law of 
gravitation ; Watt takes a hint from ^ hissing tea- 
urn, and we have the steam-engine; Hugh Miller 
takes a hint from the curious fossils which his boyish 
pranks exhumed, and the Old Red Sandstone of his 
loved Scotland spreads forth its treasures in a voice 
so eloquent that the whole world listens. 
* Nature teaches according to the suggestive method. 
She has her picture galleries, and her galleries of 
statues, her stupendous architecture, her rich mu- 
seums, and her immense zoological and botanic 
gardens; to all the enjoyments of which she invites 
men eagerly, freely, without money and without 
price. 

Nature teaches according to the suggestive method. 
She excites curiosity, courts investigation, asks to 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 75 

have lier riddles read ; sometimes, silently persuad- 
ing the willing to examine her treasures, and some- 
times compelling the indolent to study her laws by 
making obedience to them essential to their well- 
being. 

One of my best lessons in teaching was taught me 
by a robin. It was in my garden, and the mother- 
robin was teaching her young brood to fly. A little 
robin sat upon the nest and seemed afraid to move. 
The m.other-bird came and stood by its side, stroked 
it with her bill, and then hopped to a neighboring 
twig and stood awhile as if to induce the little bird 
to follow. Again and again she repeated her caresses, 
and then hopped nimbly to the same twig. At 
length the little bird gained courage, and to the 
great joy of its mother, shook its weak wings, started 
and stood by her side. Another more distant twig 
was now selected, and further effort brought the 
little bird to it also. And so the process was re- 
peated many times, until the timid fledgling now 
grown quite bold could sail away with its mother 
over woodlands, fields, and meadows. 

13. The Study of the Sciences does not in itself 
LEAD TO Virtue. — Virtue may be defined as con- 
formity of conduct to the rule of right, and a virtu- 
ous man is one who conforms his conduct to the 
rule of right. But the rule of right cannot be found 
to inhere in things — neither in their fitness, their 
harmony, nor their relations, ^o study of the 
sciences, however profound, can reveal it, although 
such study may prepare the way for its full appre- 
ciation. 



76 METHODS OF IN-STRUCTION. 

Looking to the same conclusion is the fact that 
many great scholars have heen bacl men, and many 
good men have been poor scholars. 

But while no searching among the sciences will 
discover the rule of right, we intuitively conceive an 
ideal of the • perfection and worth of the human 
spirit. That there is a real thing corresponding to 
this ideal conception is most certain, although it 
cannot he made an object of scientific investigation. 
The right is to add perfection and worth to the 
human spirit, and study when pursued with this end 
in view is virtuous. Those means are virtuous 
which are legitimately used to attain virtuous ends. 

In the light of what has been said it is easy to 
• define the relation of intellectual education to wrong- 
doing or crime. The moral value of an intellectual 
education depends upon the end for which it is 
sought. It is bad if sought for selfish or wicked 
purposes. It is good if sought for the purpose of 
benefiting mankind, of dignifying the human 
character, or of honoring God ; if sought to gain 
knowledge, to attain discipline — ends within itself, 
^ although among its gettings one will not find 
wisdom, yet its tendencies must be indirectly on 
virtue's side. 

14. "What we can Know is everywhere Bounded 

BY WHAT MUST REMAIN UNKNOWN. — An apple falls 

from a tree in a garden. A wise man, watching it, 
is moved to search for the cause. He observes many 
similar phenomena, and ascertains that all of them 
are controlled by a. common law. He calls it the 
law of gravitation, and finds, after careful investiga- 



CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 77 

tiou, that its influence extends to the heavenly 
bodies and keeps the planets in their orbits. But 
can any one tell us what the law of gravitation is in 
itself? or what may be its cause ? A Geologist may 
trace with indefatigable labor the changes through 
which our earth has passed ; he may ascend from 
the present condition of things to that which imme- 
diately preceded it, and from that to the next, and 
so on until he finds the earth at first to have been 
w^ithout form and void, and with darkness resting on 
tUe face of the deep, or until it appears as a vast 
nebulous mass of fluid-matter floating in space, and 
yet be compelled to leave the whole mystery of 
creation unsolved. Who can define space ? Who 
can measure time ? Who can mount up to the 
beginning of things, or fathom their end ? Who, 
indeed, can take up the ends of the thread of his 
own consciousness ? 

What we can know is everywhere bounded by 
what must remain unknown. But what can we 
know ? We can know all that is finite and relative, 
although we cannot number the years it will take 
the race to do it. We can do more, we can know 
that there is an iTfftmte, an absolute, a Crod, but what 
they are it is beyond our power to find out. Phi- 
losophy, mis-called so, has never been able to exclude 
from the human consciousness the idea that there 
is something that extends beyond all possible expe- 
rience, that back of all phenomena there is some 
actuality in which they inhere, or from which they 
spring, that there must be a great First Cause. The 
human consciousness is right. This idea must be 
answered by a reality. It is impossible not to be- 



78 METHODS OF INSTKUCTION. 

lieve it. It must be or nothing can be. But while 
we have firm ground for faith in such a reality, 
we can construct no science of the unconditioned. 
What we know must be derived from Revelation. 
We see with human vision, but cannot understand 
without supernatural assistance. 

If these views are true they will prevent an over- 
estimate of the extent and value of scientific attain- 
ments. They show that the knowable has limits ; 
and they show, too, that even the basis of the 
knowable is faith. Science will thus learn to walk 
in the humble sphere God designed for her. 

They will also furnish a ground upon which to 
establish the doctrines of Religion. They are 
equally at variance with Atheism on the one hand, 
and Pantheism on the other. They make certain 
our knowledge of the existence of God, but in limit- 
ing our knowledge of Him to this fact, they neces- 
sitate a Revelation, and leave room for the most 
exalted faith. 



BUILDIN-Q THE FOU:tTDATIO]S". 

The I^aturalist finds classification necessary to 
enable him to handle the immense number of facts 
which observation brings to light in any one branch 
of science. It will surprise no one, then, that in a 
discussion concerning Methods of Instruction, which 
requires the whole object-matter of knowledge to 
be kept in view, some systematic arrangement of 
the various branches of knowledge is necessary as a 
preliminary condition. 

A certain amount of knowledge is now in the 
possession of mankind. If we could determine the 
process by which it was obtained, or how it grew up 
in the mind, a great step would be taken in the way 
of ascertaining a correct method of teaching, for 
knowledge must be imparted in the manner it can 
best be learned. If History tells anything on this 
point, it ought to be consulted. 

It is not a matter of indifierence as to what kind 
of knowledge is first imparted. There is much 
which a child can understand, and much that can 
only be comprehended by full-grown men. In any 
particular branch of knowledge some things depend 
upon other things, and thus necessitate a series of 
connected steps in teaching. 

In building a foundation for our proposed Methods 
of Instruction, it may be well to consider: 

(79) 



80 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION". 

I. The Classification of Knowledge. 
II. The Genesis of Knowledge. 
III. The Order of Study. 

The close attention of the student is- invited to 
the discussion of each of these topics, as he will find 
therein a key to much that follows : 

I. The Classification of Knowledge. 

A classification of knowledge is possible from two 
stand-points. Its object-matter consists of the uni- 
versal whole of things. The w^iole of things has its 
divisions and subdivisions — its kingdoms, classes, 
orders, genera, and species. It is for Philosophy to 
find the trunk, and trace out the branches of the 
tree of knowledge ; or it is for Philosophy to find 
a principle of classification, and apply it. This 
stand-point is that of the objective relations of 
knowledge. 

Laws control all our mental operations. Science 
could not result from lawless thought. If we could 
mark the point at which the thinking process begins 
and measure the successive stages of its unfolding, 
we might be able to classify knoAvledge from the 
order in w^hich its several parts are evolved. This 
stand-point is that of the subjective laws of thought. 

To a mind with infinite powers a classification of 
knowledge is possible, both from the relations of 
things and from the laws of thought; but the 
results of one mode would be the same as of the 
other. When men attempt to classif}^ knowledge, 
they must proceed in the same way ; but their 
imperfect understanding of the relations of things 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 81 

on the one hand, and of the laws of thought on the 
other must always render their results incomplete, 
if it does not cause them to be erroneous. 

Since knowledge is the product of the mind 
within upon the world without, it would seem that 
there could be formed a classification of knowledge 
founded upon its historical development, which 
would be sufficient at least for practical purposes, 
combining, as it might, the advantages of both the 
preceding methods; but even here there is little 
agreement among those who have attempted it. 

Before any systematic discussion respecting Meth- 
ods of Instruction can take place, some scheme for 
the classification of knowledge must be adopted; 
and, seeing this, diligent search has been made to 
find one suited to the purpose. Many have been 
examined, but all of them seemed open to serious 
objection. Comte's is the best known classification 
of the sciences, made with respect to the matter of 
which they are composed. His classification is as 
follows : Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Chem- 
istry, Physiology, Social Physics. The principle 
which determines the order of the series is the 
relative degree of simplicity in their subject-matter. 
Without naming the several objections that may be 
made to this classification of the sciences as such, it 
is enough to show its want of adaptation to the pur- 
poses of teaching to say that the mental nature of 
no child will admit his being first taught Mathe- 
matics, next Astronomy, and so on to the end of 
the series. Hegel may be taken as the ablest repre- 
sentative of the class of Philosophers who classify 
the sciences with respect to the laws of thought by 



82 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

which they are evolved. But he begins with Logic, 
or the science of pure ideas — a science he has 
scarcely made clear to the wisest men, to say nothing 
of children. Herbert Spencer's classification of the 
sciences, founded upon the relative degree of 
abstractness in the matter of the various classes 
comprised in it, is more exhaustive, and, I think, 
more philosophical than that of Comte, but it can- 
not be used to any more advantage in teaching, as 
his first class comprises what is most abstract, while 
the work of instruction must commence with what 
is wholl}^ concrete. Our own countryman, Rev. Dr. 
Hill, President of Harvard University, has arranged 
and expounded with great ability a classification of 
the sciences based upon the order in which the 
several sciences are developed; but, as has been 
already intimated, and as will be more fully shown 
hereafter, the elements of all the sciences are so 
nearly cotemporaneous in origin that it is practi- 
cally impossible to fix their position in an order of 
time. A course of study, therefore, must com- 
mence with the elements of all the sciences, and not 
as Dr. Hill states in the order of his classes, Alathe- 
sis. Physics, History, Psychology, and Theology. 
It ought to be added, however, that, somewhat in 
violation of his own theory, as it seems to me, Dr. 
Hill advocates in practice the simultaneous study 
of the different branches of knowledge. 

Failing to find in any of the schemes of classifica- 
tion known to me, those requisites which the dis- 
cussion contemplated seems to demand, I will group 
into several great classes the matter taught in our 
schools, trusting to the Philosopher of a future day 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 83 

to accomplisli what I now feel myself unable to do. 
These classes have been formed with special refer- 
ence to teaching. They differ most in the elements 
they contain capable of modifying 3fethods of Instruc- 
tion. Still, branches of knowledge have not been 
thrown together independent of what is considered 
to be their essential relationships, nor in the gen- 
eral arrangement is all reference to the order of 
growth in which knowledge is built up in the mind 
overlooked. It will be perceived, however, that 
these classes of studies often involve one another. 
From the nature of the case, it is impossible to form 
a classification to which this may not be made an 
objection. The principles of the various branches 
of knowledge necessarily overlap and interlace, for 
there is in reality but one science. Nature is a 
whole, and one science must be involved in all other 
sciences. It ought to be remarked further that the 
elements of all the sciences are, in their beginnings, 
equally simple. Kor can one science ever attain 
perfection without help from the other sciences. 
The simplest fact that can be observed must have a 
connection with the most profound truths. There 
is no proper hierarchy of the sciences. 

The classes it is thought proper to make, are the 
following : 

First Class. — The Elements of Knowledge. — The 
elements of knowledge are the perceptions of the 
sense and the intuitions of the reason. Upon these, 
as a basis, all knowledge is built up. 

By perceptions of the sense is meant whatever 
can be seen, heard, felt, or directly known by the 



84 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

senses — facts and phenomena. Included in this 
class are the color, form, size, weight, and number 
of objects; such qualities as hardness and softness, 
smoothness and roughness, sweetness and sourness, 
loudness and softness; and such phenomena as 
appear to the senses in the world about us. 

By intuitions of the reason are meant those regu- 
lative principles of the human mind which render 
all experience possible. A child may be wholly 
unconscious of them, it may be a long time before 
he can give them verbal expression, but they are 
ever operative, universal, and necessary. It cannot 
be supposed that any mental operation, even the 
simplest act of perception, tak^s place without the 
control of law; and a careful analysis of such acts 
will reveal the fact that they involve certain uni- 
versal and necessary principles which admit of 
statement. A very young child, for example, knows 
its mother, but the law of identity and difference, 
by which it does so, cannot, of course, be under- 
stood. A boy who has his ball in his pocket is 
quite sure it cannot be in the pocket of another boy, 
although he may not be able to appreciate the axiom 
that " A thing cannot be in different places at the 
same time." He knows, too, that a whole pie is 
equal to the sum of all the pieces into which it is 
cut, if he can find no fit expression for the principle 
that enables him to know it. Pages of illustrations 
might be given, but these are sufiicient to show that 
the principles upon which the profoundest Philoso- 
phy must rest are found operative in the minds of 
children, and must be considered among the ele- 
ments of knowledge. 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 85 

All science must rest upon the basis now pointed 
out, but the arts have science itself for a basis ; and 
soon after a child is in possession of the elements 
of the sciences, he begins to operate with, or upon, 
them in such a way as to produce what may be 
called the elements of the arts. He imitates sounds ; 
he carves sticks, and moulds clay; he paints his face 
or clothes with berries ; he builds houses with stones 
or blocks ; he makes figures in the sand ; indeed, it 
is not difficult to trace in the plays of children the 
rude beginnings of many of the arts which have 
now, in civilized countries, reached such a high 
degree of perfection. 

The first of our classes then includes the elements 
of knowledge, the elements of the sciences, and the 
elements of the arts. The discussion of each class 
of knowledge might embrace the elements upon 
which it rests ; but as teaching must begin by im- 
parting a knowledge of the elements of knowledge 
in general, without regard to the class to which they 
belong, the plan adopted is considered the best. 

Second Class. — Language. — Language might be 
classed among the arts, since, like them, it is in 
part, at least, the product of human skill. It might 
be classed with the Empirical sciences, since, like 
them, many of the laws which govern it have been 
derived from observation and experiment. And, 
again, it might be classed with the Formal Sciences, 
since its laws are often identical with the laws of 
thought. Its great importance, in an educational 
point of view, however, determines me to consider 
it by itself. 
8 



86 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

The class is intended to embrace all those branches 
of instruction which relate to the acquisition of skill 
in the use of language, or which treat of language 
as a science. 

Third Class. — The Formal Sciences. — Two sciences 
are desiarned to be included in this class -^ Mathe- 
matics and Logic. Mathematics gives precise ex- 
pression to the relations of forms and numbers, and 
Logic gives precise expression to the laws of thought. 
Matter could not exist but for Mathematical condi- 
tions, and thought is known to us only under 
Logical conditions. Logic is the more general of 
the two sciences, for Mathematical reasoning itself 
is subject to its forms; but their relationship is 
sufficiently obvious. 

Fourth Class. — The Empirical Sciences, — Laws 
learned by induction are called Empirical laws, and 
the sciences composed of systems of these laws have 
received the name of Empirical sciences. ■ Or, the 
Empirical sciences are the sciences which are made 
up of that knowledge of which experience is the 
source. Among these sciences are Geography, 
'Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Physiology, Zool- 
ogy, Botany, Geology, Astronomy, Psychology, &c. 

Fifth Class. — The Rational Sciences. — The basis 
of the Rational sciences is the self-evident, neces- 
sary, and universal principles which can be directly 
apprehended by the reason without the intervention 
of any discursive process. Or, the Rational sciences 
are the sciences which are evolved from those ideas 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 87 

of which experience is the occasion, but not the 
source. The term Metaphysics might be applied 
to the whole class ; and of its subdivisions I will 
name but three: Philosophy, or the science of The 
True ; Esthetics, or the science of The Beautiful; 
and Ethics, or the science of The Good. 

Sixth Class. — The Historical Sciences. — History 
collects the facts relating to the life of man upon 
the earth, and presents them in systematic narra- 
tions. In its higher departments it essays to solve 
the problem of man's condition and destiny. Into 
all calculations respecting the Historical sciences, 
the elements of a free-will and a superintending 
Providence enter, and these render it necessary to 
place the Historical sciences in a class by themselves. 

Events cannot be recorded or accounted for before 
they have occurred, and hence History complements 
all other sciences, and cannot be finished until all 
the future becomes the past. 

Seventh Class. — The Arts. — Art in its beginnings 
may precede science, but in its more advanced stages 
it must always follow it. Says Mill, "Art neces- 
sarily presupposes knowledge; art, in any but its 
infant state, presupposes scientific knowledge; and 
if every art does not bear the name of the science 
upon which it rests, it is only because several 
sciences are often necessary to form the ground- 
work of a single art." This explains sufficiently 
well the place occupied by " The Arts" in our classi- 
fication of knowledge. The class will be divided 
into the Empirical arts and the Rational arts. 



88 BUILDIN-Q THE FOUNDATION". 

11. The Genesis of Knowledge. 

It is proposed to inquire how the human race came 
into possession of the knowledge they now have? 
Volumes would he required to push the inquiry to 
its limits ; hut it is hoped that enough concerning 
the subject may he stated in a few pages to throw 
considerable light upon Methods of Instruction. 
The growth of knowledge in the individual mind 
must correspond to its historic growth in the mind 
of the race. 

Sufficient has already been said, or will he said 
in other connections, concerning the genesis of the 
"Elements of knowledge," and hence this topic 
will be omitted in the present discussion. The order 
followed in the discussion of the other topics under 
this head will be that of the preceding classification. 

The Genesis of our Knowledge of Language. — 
Several theories of the origin of language have been 
proven fallacious. It is now acknowledged that no 
ready-formed vocabulary could have been the gift 
of God. While some words, in all languages, are 
imitations of sounds heard in nature, the vast ma- 
jority of them cannot be accounted for by any 
system of Onomatopoeia. Interjections are, doubt- 
less, found in all languages, but that all other parts 
of speech are derived from these has never been 
proven, and is past belief. The most profound of 
modern Philologists have reached the conclusion 
that man was endowed by his Creator with the 
power of naming, and that he exercises this power in 
the same way as a bird sings. Multitudes of words 
were produced in the early ages which perished, but 



THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 89 

certain root-word?, four or five liunclred in number, 
survived the "struggle for life," and now form the 
basis of all languages'. These root- words are the 
generous parents of whole tribes of other words, 
which, b}'' being modified in meaning, compounded 
and inflected, swell the number of words in some 
languages to eighty or a hundred thousand. 

But a teacher is not so directly interested in ques- 
tions concerning the origin of language as he is in 
those concerning the manner in which children, in 
ordinary circumstances, acquaint themselves with 
human speech. 

I do not doubt that the same speech-forming 
instinct or faculty exists now as in the early ages of 
the world's history, and that if the race were to lose 
all knowledge of the words they now use they would 
produce new ones. But children do not create a 
new language, they merely acquire the power to use 
one already in existence. How do they acquire it? 
First, they notice objects or actions. Then they 
hear certain verbal sounds associated with them, and 
finally learn to imitate these sounds. They are 
aided in the whole process by an innate desire to 
know and to speak. An English child learns English 
because he hears English words and English forms 
of expression. Other languages are learned in the 
same way. The words a child first learns are those 
that stand for objects or actions which are most 
prominently presented to him, or in which he feels 
most interest. Of this class are pa, ma, puss, dog, 
horse, door, hat, dock, bell, &c., &c., or ru7i, walk, ride, 
burn, bark, sing, &c., &c. The same principle holds 
good with regard to the manner in which the ability 

8* 



90 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

to use forms of expression consisting of two or more 
words is acquired. The parts of speech a child 
generally uses first are the noun and the verb, and 
those he next uses are the adjective and the adverb ; 
and it requires much practice before he constructs 
whole sentences in talking. 

It may be fairly inferred from what has been said 
that the best mode of teaching young children the 
use of language is to make their acquaintance with 
things as extensive as possible, and to allow them 
full opportunity of hearing things talked about, and 
of talkino; about them themselves. 

The Genesis of our Knowledge of the Formal 
Sciences. — There can be no doubt that Mathematics 
arose from very humble beginnings. I am not 
aware that any savage tribe has yet been found who 
had not some idea of number, but some are known 
to exist who cannot count beyond five. Pressed by 
necessity, primitive men began to enumerate present 
objects. Afterwards they desired to count absent 
objects, but finding the mental effort too great they 
resorted to counting their fingers as children do now, 
hence the application of the word, digit,, to a num- 
ber less than ten. When they did not count their 
fingers, they may have used pebbles, as is indicated 
by the word calculus, or sticks, or leaves, or grains of 
corn. Some nations were found to use five as the 
basis of their scale of notation, probably because five 
is the number of fingers on one hand; and many use 
ten, probably because that is the number of fingers 
on both hands. Weights and measures, too, arose 
in the same way. No one can be mistaken in the 



THE GEN'ESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 91 

significance of words like grain, pennyweight, carat, 
barleycorn, foot, span, hand, day, month, kc, &c. It is 
clear that the art of numbering must have, for a long 
time, consisted in performmg the simplest operations 
upon objects — must have been wholly concrete. By 
and by, however, the ability to use larger numbers 
was acquired, abstractions were performed, symbols 
were invented representing, at first, perhaps, only 
lines or strokes, or combinations of lines or strokes, 
more difficult calculations were made, and Arith- 
metic began to assume something of its present form. 
The annual overflowings of the river Nile, in 
Egypt, rendered it difiicult to preserve the bounda- 
ries of the lands owned by particular individuals, 
and it is said that Geometry was first used for the 
purpose of measuring land in that country, and 
hence derived its name. Doubtless the land was 
measured in Egypt, and the circumstance alluded 
to may have rendered it necessary to measure it 
with more than usual accuracy; but it is evident 
that some of the principles of Geometry must have 
been applied from the earliest dawn of the human 
intellect. They were used in constructing dwellings, 
in making domestic utensils, articles of clothing, 
and weapons of warfare, in overcoming resistances, 
and in calculating distances. Indeed, the idea of 
form must be cotemporary in origin with the idea 
of number, if it does not precede it, and both come 
into the mind at a very early age. The arts now 
referred to had probably made considerable advance- 
ment before any particular notice was taken of the 
Geometrical principles involved in them, but, by 
and by, their further progress rendered such notice 



92 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

necessary, and Geometrical truths began to be recog- 
nized. Other truths were found by demonstration 
to be contained in these, and a mass of loose Geo- 
metrical knowledge floated about in the minds of 
men, until such Philosophers as Thales, Pythagoras, 
Plato and Euclid reduced the whole to systematic 
order, and found fit expression for the universal and 
necessary principles upon which it is based. 

Sir William Hamilton defines Logic as the "Sci- 
ence of the necessary Form of Thought." Abstract 
as is the conception of this science in the minds 
of Philosophers like Hamilton, and lofty as are now 
its claims, it is probable that its beginnings consisted 
in the simplest reasonings. Children reason now 
almost from infancy, and we may well suppose that 
men did so from the earliest times. The circum- 
stances by which they were surrounded compelled 
them to think. They must be protected from cold 
and heat, they must have food, they must defend 
themselves from animals and from enemies of their 
own species, and all this required the exercise of 
reason. Doubtless, it was soon observed that some 
reasoned well, made safe calculations, managed skil- 
fully. These were considered wise men, and often 
became trusted rulers. In the course of time many 
observations were made upon reasonings, their cor- 
rect forms were in a measure determined, and sources 
of error were pointed out. If the History of Logic 
could be written, such fragments would be found 
among all people who have attained any considerable 
degree of civilization. They existed in ancient 
India, in Egypt, in Greece, and most likely in other 
countries of antiquity. It remained for the giant 



THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 93 

mind of Aristotle to collect them, and construct of 
them a system that has won the admiration of the 
world. 

From what has been said, it seems likely that 
Logic at first consisted of descriptions of certain 
disconnected forms of thinking which men made 
use of in carrying on the common affairs of life ; 
that afterwards these forms were compared and 
simplified ; and that eventually they became entirely 
abstracted from the matter which had filled them, 
and Logic took its place along side of Mathematics 
as a Pure science. 

The Genesis of our Knowledge of the Empiri- 
cal Sciences. — Efforts have been made to discover 
the origin of the sciences belonging to this class, and 
to write their history. Such efforts have been suc- 
cessful in accumulating a vast amount of valuable 
knowledge, but no one has ever been able to point 
out the time at which men first began to observe 
the facts upon which they are based. When well 
considered, this is not at all wonderful, since the very 
earliest inhabitants of the earth must have observed 
some of the phenomena of nature, and these obser- 
vations of which no record could be kept became 
the basis of all knowledge. 

Our American savages have among them no such 
thing as science, and yet they are in possession of 
many of the elements of the sciences. They have 
marked the places of some of the stars, and can 
calculate the lapse of time and the change of seasons. 
They can find their way through the forests, and 
have learned much concerning the properties of 



94 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION". 

trees and plants and the habits of animals. They 
are familiar with the forms and motions of the clouds 
and the phenomena of rain, hail, snow, &c. They 
are acquainted with the^^ processes of fermentation 
and distillation, and have noted those of growth 
and decay. Indeed, they are remarkably close ob- 
servers of nature, and I do not believe that any 
science can be named of whose fundamental facts 
they do not know something. What is true of these 
untutored Indians is true of all tribes or nations of 
uncivilized men. Among them there is needed but 
the ability to colligate and generalize to commence 
the evolution of the sciences. 

Children, too, become acquainted with a vast 
number of facts — facts belonging technically to all 
the sciences, especially the Empirical sciences ; and 
these they can be taught when older to arrange into 
systems of science. 

The history of science and the condition of the 
knowledge in the possession of uncivilized men and 
of children indicate that the Empirical sciences are 
merely the extension by means of reasoning of the 
accumulated facts which experience has made 
known. Common knowledge becomes scientific 
knowledge by classification and generalization. A 
common man becomes a philospher by learning to 
reason. 

For the purpose of illustrating the position now 
taken, a few facts will be stated in the histoiy of a 
single science. Botany. " In the accounts of rudest 
tribes," says "Whewell, "in the earliest legends, 
poetry, and literature of nations, pines and oaks, 
roses and violets, the olive and the vine, and the- 



THE GENESIS OF KNOVrLEDGE. 95 

thousand other productions of the earth, have a 
place, and are spoken of in a manner which assumes 
that, in such kinds of natural objects, permanent and 
infallible distinctions had been observed and univer- 
sally recognized." In the early stages of man's 
career, however, plants and parts of plants received 
names as individuals and of course were not care- 
fully noticed in their connections and relations. 
Then came a time when much inconvenience was 
felt from the use of loose and ambiguous terms and 
from the multitudes of objects which required nam- 
ing, and men resorted to classification as a relief. 

The first classifications of plants were very vague 
and unscientific. Among them were that which 
divided plants info trees^ shrubs, and Jierhs ; that of 
Theophrastus which divided them according to size, 
use, place of growth, lactescence, and generation ; and 
that of Dioscorides, which arranged them according 
to their qualities, as aromatic, alimentary, medicinal, 
and vinous. It is easy to see in all these classifica- 
tions, and in others like them, the attempt to system- 
atize the results attained by the superficial observa- 
tions of men. The work was rendered more difiicult 
by the m.any qualities which an active fancy and 
a love of the marvellous had attributed to plants. 

The kind of classifications just named was 
gradually displaced by others more systematic. 
The fanciful gave way before the real. Step by 
step, closer investigations revealed new facts, until, 
at last, such ^Naturalists as Linnaeus and Jussieu 
were enabled to place the science of Botany upon 
the firm basis of the inherent resemblances and 
differences existing in the vegetable world. 



96 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION". 

The Genesis of our knowledge of the Empirical 
sciences generally, is believed to be fairly exem- 
plified by the Genesis of our knowledge of 
Botany. 

The Genesis of our Knowledge of the Eational 
Sciences. — We observe facts in the material world; 
upon investigation these facts are found to have 
certain relations which, when properly expressed, 
are called laws — the law^s of matter. We observe, 
by means of our consciousness, facts in the world 
of mind; these, too, have their relations which can 
be expressed in the form of laws — the laws of mind. 
Thus are constituted the Empirical sciences. All 
such, laws, however, are dependent, contingent, and 
subject to modification or limitation. 

This is not the place to enter upon a lengthy dis- 
cussion in order to show that we are in the posses- 
sion of principles wholly unlike those which make 
up the Empirical sciences, and which, indeed, may 
be made to form the basis of a class of sciences by 
themselves; but among these principles I w^ould 
place — 

Certain Primary Ideas. — '^o one will maintain that 
our idea of space or time corresponds with our con- 
ception of the sum of our experienced spaces and 
times. Our conception of the infinite and the abso- 
lute is, at least, beyond our knowledge of the finite 
and the relative. The ideas which we have of the 
true, the beautiful, and the good, greatly transcend 
the perfections of any object which our senses have 
made known to us. We think of God, not merely 
as a projection of our own personality with all its 



THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 97 

human frailties, but as a Being endowed with all 
possible virtues, without spot or blemish. 

And Certain Creneralized Intuitions, — I mean by 
Generalized Intuitions, the axioms of Mathematics 
and Logic, the maxims of Philosophy, Esthetics, 
and Ethics, and the foundation principles of all 
other sciences. I call them "Intuitions," because 
they are perceived by the mind directly, without the 
intervention of any discursive process. They are 
without doubt, an outgrowth of our Primary Ideas. 
I describe them by the word "Generalized," since, 
as it seems to me, they are not fotmd, or do not 
come into the mind, except upon the presentation, 
or representation, of an object or a succession of 
objects, either material or mental. I distinguish 
them from Empirical laws because they transcend 
experience and are self-evident, universal, and neces- 
sary. Take the axiom — two straight lines cannot 
enclose a space, and its truth is perceived at once ; 
but, although felt to be self-evident, universal, and 
necessary, such a truth would never have occurred 
to a mind wholly unacquainted with straight lines. 

The Rational Sciences, then, are the sciences 
which treat of those Ideas which are the primary 
sources of knowledge, and those Intuitions which 
may be generalized into principles that are self- 
evident, universal, and necessarj^ What has been 
their manner of growth ? 

Primary Ideas, as previously stated, come into the 
mind upon the presentation or representation of 
some object. They are not innate in the sense in 
which power of remembering or reasoning is innate ; 
but they necessarily attend the function of cognition. 



ya BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

These Ideas do not comprehend the infinite or the 
absolute, although a belief in the infinite and absolute 
is founded upon them. They are things of degree, 
widening as experience widens, but always trans- 
cending experience. Children and savages have 
ideas of space and time, of the true, the beautiful, 
and the good, which all the matter of their experi- 
ence cannot fill ; but they cannot fully realize these 
ideas or find expression for them. As men ad- 
vance in knowledge their Primar}^ Ideas become 
more clear and more comprehensive, and finally 
attract attention, and find articulate expression. 
Once held up before the mind as objects of study, 
philosophers evolve their contents and arrange them 
iu scientific order, deduce from them certain defini- 
tions, axioms, maxims, and fundamental truths, and 
construct upon this foundation, as I suppose, all the 
branches of Metaphysics. It will be noticed that I 
base these sciences upon such ideas as we can form 
of the object-matter now under consideration. I 
do not maintain that a " PJdlosophy of the Uncondi- 
tioned" is possible, but I do maintain that a Phi- 
losophy of such of our knowledge as transcends 
experience is possible, and I think I have shown 
how it orio'inates. 

o 

The Genesis of our Knowledge of the Histori- 
cal Sciences. — History is an account of what man 
has done, and how, and why he has done it. 

History may consist in a narration of facts, and in 
that case the Genesis of our knowledge of it is very 
obvious. All tribes of uncivilized men have their 
traditions. They are related by parents to their 



THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 99 

children, and by the old to the young. They con- 
tam some truth intermixed, doubtless, with much 
that is fabulous. When a people become a little more 
advanced in civilization, these traditions, in the form 
of myths or legends, are frequently sung or recited in 
verse by individuals who make a profession of it. 
They are sometimes commemorated by rude figures 
cut upon the surface of rocks, or by rough piles of 
stone. After having learned to write, it is not long 
till men begin to compose History; at first full of 
fancy and fiction, by and by it 'becomes more truth- 
ful, and assumes its proper place in Literature. 
Thus, the simple stories that may be told in the 
cabins or around the council-fires of a tribe of 
savages, become, in the course of centuries, the 
basis of the great tomes written by a thousand pens, 
which narrate in choice words and polished style the 
teeming events of the past.^ 

History may be the exposition of a Philosophy, 
and then our study of it can only properly begin 
after we have acquired much other knowledge upon 
which it depends. The Philosophy of History is 
the Philosophy of man ; and as he was the last of 
created things — the crowning glory of the whole, to 
.understand him all else must be understood. A 
knowledge of him, indeed, is necessary to complete 
all other knowledge ; but, in the order of things, 
we must approach the study of mind through the 
Btudy of matter. 

The Genesis of our Knowledge of the Arts. — 
Man undoubtedly was created with the power of 
making things. He was an artificer from the be- 



100 BUILDIN^G THE FOUNDATION. 

ginning. Birds build nests, beavers make dams, 
bees construct combs in which to store their honey, 
and the most primitive races of men were endowed 
with similar but higher mechanical powers. It is 
not possible to account for the origin and growth of 
the Arts without admitting that this inventive^ crea- 
ting instinct is the foundation upon which they are 
based. This power was probably stimulated into 
exercise by necessity. Food, clothing, protection 
from the elements and from wild beasts, were, at 
least, needed by the earliest inhabitants of the earth, 
and such wants must be supplied; and, doubtless, 
under their pressure the first rude Arts made their 
appearance. The kinds of food first used were nuts, 
berries and other fruits, and sometimes roots. Flesh 
did not come into use until later, and then it was 
eaten raw. ^o cooking was done in these early 
times. The primitive inhabitants of the earth 
clothed themselves witli the leaves of trees or the 
skins of animals. Caves and hollow trees were the 
first houses, and clubs and stones the first imple- 
ments of warfare. With these to start with, the 
human race commenced that career of progress 
which excites the wonder of all who contemplate it, 
but which can be illustrated here by only a few- 
examples. 

The Greeks classed Drawing, Writing, and Paint- 
ing together, as having a common basis, and applied 
to them the common name y^a(pixYj, or Graphics. It 
is to be presumed that men would early endeavor 
to represent the strange forms which they saw about 
them. The first written communications with one 
another were probably of this nature. As a matter 



THE GEXESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 101 

of fact a kind of picture-writing or picture-drawing, 
has been found to exist among a number of tribes 
low down in the scale of civilization. These rude 
drawings were sometimes colored, and thus came 
the first attempts at Painting. The colors, however, 
were put on with little skill, just as savages paint 
their faces or children daub pictures on paper. It 
was not till influenced by the fine scenery and 
polished culture of Greece that this difiicult art 
assumed any thing like perfection. As Drawing, 
in the course of time, branched ofiiMnto Paintino^, so 

' CD' 

also it was the source from which "Writing was 
developed. Things were first represented by pic- 
tures, and as these, where frequentl}^ used, became 
very familiar, their forms were very much changed 
and greatly abreviated to render theni more easily 
and quickly made. By and by, some of them be- 
came symbolical, as a picture of a circle represented 
eternity, and one of a fox, cunniug. Then the same 
characters, or the same characters somewhat modi- 
fied, were used to represent monosyllabic words, 
and when these were compounded, syllables of these 
words. At last they were made to stand for sounds, 
and the Alphabet was invented. Thanks to some 
old Egyptian king, whose vanity built the Pyramids 
and inscribed them all over with hieroglyphics, for 
these same hieroglyphics tell, in unequivocal lan- 
guage, the story just related. Champollion and 
others seem to have found among them pictures 
representing things in every state of transition until 
they became letters representing sounds ; that is, 
they found the same characters to be ideographic, 
verbal, syllabic, and phonetic. 
9* 



102 BUILDIISrG THE FOUNDATION. 

Even in the most polished styles of Architecture 
it is thought the influence of the primitive abodes 
of men may he traced. The Egyptian style re- 
sembles caves ; the Chinese, tents ; the Grrecian, huts ; 
and the Gothic, hollow trees, or trees themselves, pine 
or fir. Trees driven into the earth in rows to sup- 
port a covering may represent columns wider in 
diameter below and narrower above as trees are. 
The bases of columns may have been suggested by 
blocks of stone placed under wooden pillars to keep 
them from dampness, and the capitals by boards 
laid on the tops of such pillars to broaden the place 
of support for the structure which rested upon them. 
Sculpture in its beginnings had a close relation 
to Architecture. Stone, without doubt, was early 
quarried and cut for the purpose of building. Carv- 
ings for ornament on rocks and the walls of caves, 
succeeded carvings intended to preserve the memory 
of real forms or interesting events. These carvings 
were at first slight indentations merely presenting 
the outlines of the figures, afterwards they were cut 
out more fully and assumed the form of bas-relief, 
and finally we may reasonably suppose whole statues 
were chiseled out. Piles of stone were the first 
monuments, then came plain monuments cut from 
solid rocks in place, and these among the Greeks 
assumed the form of highly beautified sculpture 
representing gods and men. 

Poetry and Music, closely related as they are, 
probably had a cotemporary origin. 'No tribe of 
savasres has ever been found who had not forms of 
measured words and who did not indulge in singing 
them. The Poetry is often barbarous, and the Music. 



THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 103 

a succession of discordant sounds ; but they are the 
first rude beginnings of arts that have done much 
to elevate mankind. The first musical instruments 
were probably made of metals, as the Chinese gongs; 
of the skins of animals, whence our drums ; of reeds 
or the bark of small trees, whence our pipes and 
flutes ; and of strings, whence lyres and harps, pianos 
and organs. 

Agriculture must have been practiced very early, 
but the implements used for loosening the soil were 
at first sharpen-ed sticks, next came implements of 
stone, and after long ages those of iron. Some trade 
was probably carried on by all uncivilized nations, 
but it consisted merely in exchanges of articles used 
for food, clothing, or protection. Rivers were at 
first navigated on logs, which afterwards were hol- 
lowed out into canoes. A few of the properties of 
vegetables seem to have been discovered at an early 
day, and certain of them used for medicines among 
all primitive people. 

Sufiicient has now been said concerning the 
Genesis of our Knowledge to warrant a few general- 
izations which have an important educational sig- 
nificance : 

First, Knowledge as a ivliole seems to have been de- 
veloped from the commoji observations of men stimulated 
by animal or sjnritual ivants. — In the early history of 
the race, the pressure of animal wants seems to have 
done most to promote science and art; but in all 
times, and especially in highly civilized nations, 
men have been moved to the attainment of know- 
ledge by the wants of their spiritual nature. This 



104 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

is the case whenever knowledge is sought for its 
own sake or with the end in view of making more 
perfect him who seeks it. 

In addition to what has already been said in sup- 
port of the main proposition, the opinion of the 
learned Philologist, Max MuUer, may be quoted. 
He says, '' However humiliating it may sound, every 
one of our sciences, however grand their titles, can 
be traced back to the most humble and homely 
occupations of half-savage tribes. It was not the 
true, the good, and the beautiful, which spurred the 
early philosophers to deep researches and bold dis- 
coveries. The foundation-stone of the most glorious 
structures of human ingenuity in ages to come, was 
supplied by the pressing wants of a patriarchal and 
semi-barbarous society." 

I know indeed that it is argued by some, that 
Adam and his immediate descendents must have 
received knowledge as a gift from the Divine hand, 
inasmuch as no savage nation has ever been known 
to civilize itself. But this theory does not account 
for the fact that new discoveries and new inventions 
have been made, and surely all that is known con- 
cerning the evolution of the sciences and arts is 
against it. The correct theory probably is that God 
endowed the first naen with the power of gaining 
knowledge^ that he has continued so to endow man, 
and that all progress in learning and skill is owing 
to the operation of this power moved by causes 
in the condition and circumstances of men, and 
prompted at times, doubtiess, by the direct agency 
of the spirit of God. It seems clear to me that the 
problem of human civilization is impossible of solu- 



THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 105 

tion without, an acknowledgment of the direct inter- 
position of Deity in the affairs of men. 

Second. A Course of Instruction should commence 
with the General Elements of Knowledge. — Children 
evince their knowledge-acquiring power by noticing 
objects, and learning their qualities and phenomena. 
They evince their art-producing power by changing 
the places of objects, and forming them into new 
combinations ; by piling up blocks, building play- 
houses, cutting figures from paper, and imitating 
the words and actions of those about them. What 
has been said concerning the Genesis of our 'Know- 
ledge goes to show that, as children acquire know- 
ledge now, so men acquired it in the infancy of the 
race. It is, therefore, clear that instruction must 
begin with the elements of knowledge. 

These elements should be made to comprehend 
as much as possible — should not be confined to a 
few particular branches, but be general. It is a 
great mistake to push children into the higher parts 
of any one study until they have learned the ele- 
ments of many studies. For example, the principles 
of Grammar and Arithmetic are studied by many 
who ought to be studying the elements of the !N^atu- 
ral Sciences, or other branches adapted to their 
mental condition. Thousands of children are thus 
mentally surfeited every year, and the result is a 
mental dyspepsia in early youth that entails, during 
their whole life-time, sad consequences upon its 
poor victims. 

Third. The second great step in a Course of Instruc- 



106 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

tion should he to acquaint pupils with Particular Branches 
of Knowledge. — A cliild learns facts and phenomena 
as they present themselves. He may, in a single 
day, learn such as belong technically to twenty 
different sciences and arts. 

At its base all science is united, has only one 
trunk ; but it soon begins to divide and subdivide 
into numerous branches. The homogeneous be- 
comes the heterogeneous by a wonderful process of 
differentiation. The undefined elements of general 
science become the well-defined elements of par- 
ticular sciences. And as is the o:rowth of the sci- 
ences so must they be studied. 

Branching from the same trunk, the sciences 
never lose their reciprocal relationship, and always 
shed mutual light upon one another, yet they are 
sufficiently distinct to admit of independent study. 
Beyond the elements, therefore, the several branches 
of science maybe pursued, each by itself, all together, 
or a few at a time. 

Educational institutions almost universally have 
what is called a Course of Study. Each pupil 
studies a few branches at a time, and when he is 
thought to have completed these to the extent 
desired, he commences others, and thus goes on 
until he has mastered the prescribed course. "What 
u^e has thus sanctioned will generally be found the 
best policy. 

If a pupil enjoy an opportunity of pursuing a 
course of study wisely arranged according to this 
plan, it will be well for him to follow it through 
Common School, High School, and College, and, 
afterward, if the desire exist, and the way open, he 



THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 107 

may apply himself to some particular science or 
department of science. Considerable general know- 
ledge must be possessed, and a good degree of mental 
discipline be attained, before fresh investigators can 
push their inquiries beyond the present limits of 
some existing science, or make discoveries worthy 
the name of a new one ; and a life-time is too short 
to accomplish much in a wider, unexplored Held of 
research than a single science affords. In fewer 
words, the plan proposed is this : teach, first, the 
elements of the sciences in general ; next, teach in 
detail the most important principles of the several 
sciences composing a carefully arranged course of 
study ; and last, let those who can, make themselves 
masters of some special branch of science, and push 
their inquiries beyond what is known respecting it. 
This is essentially the plan adopted in countries 
where learning has made the greatest progress ; 
and it is the only f)lan which can secure to the stu- 
dent general scholarship under the greatest advan- 
tages, and, at the same time, afford him opportunity, 
with the fairest prospects of success, of fathoming 
the depths of some special science, and adding, in 
that direction, something to the sum of human 
knowledge. 

Fourth, A Course of Instruction should End hy 
Teaching the Relatioyiship and Harmony of all Knoiu- 
ledge. — It would be a difficult thing to determine the 
lines which separate one science or one art from 
another. Knowledge is not composed of indepen- 
dent facts and principles, all its parts belong to one 
whole ; and the Philosopher is always distinguished 



108 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

from the mere Scholar by his broad, comprehensive 
generalizations which mark the unity of created 
things and from which may be inferred the iinit}^ of 
the creating Mind. 

1^0 course of study can be considered complete 
until the logical relations of all its parts have been 
exhibited. Pupils pursuing different studies, treated 
of in different works by different authors, and some- 
times taught by different teachers, are apt to over- 
look their relationship and harmony. Each branch 
becomes isolated, and pupils are required to study 
the details of particular sciences when they ought 
to be engaged in learning the principles of general 
science. It is hardly possible in school, for example, 
to teach, in full detail, any one of the Natural 
Sciences, but it is possible to teach the great, leading 
principles of all of them. The specific study of the 
sciences should, therefore, be followed by the general 
study of science. A course of study should not end 
in a number of points but in a centre. The skill of 
an architect cannot be fully appreciated while his 
work lies scattered in disjointed fragments, so the 
value of science is much lessened and its beauty 
much obscured to him whose study ends in contem- 
plating disconnected facts, broken sj-stems, and 
inharmonious expressions. Comte says : " The 
present exclusive speciality of our pursuits, and the 
consequent isolation of the sciences, spoil our teach- 
ing. If any student desires to form an idea of ]N'a- 
tural Philosophy, as a whole, he is compelled to go 
through each department as it is now taught, as if 
he were to be only an Astronomer, or only a Chemist ; 
so that, be his intellect what it may, his training 



THE ORDER OF STUDY. 109 

must remain very imperfect. And yet his object 
requires that he should obtain general positive con- 
ceptions of all the classes of natural phenomena. 
It is such an aggregate of conceptions of all classes, 
whether on a great or on a small scale, v^hich must 
henceforth be the permanent basis of all human 
combinations. It will constitute the mind of future 
generations. In order to this regeneration of our 
intellectual system, it is necesssary that the sciences, 
considered as branches from one trunk, should yield 
us, as a whole, their chief methods and their most 
important results. The specialities of science can 
be pursued by those whose vocation lies in that 
direction. They are indispensable, and they are 
not likely to be neglected, but they can never of 
themselves renovate our system of Education." 

in. The Order of Study. 

It was previously stated that the sciences do not 
admit of a serial arrangement. In their primary 
elements, all of them are equally simple, and in their 
ultimate principles all of them are equally difficult. 
They can be cultivated simultaneously, or they can 
be cultivated as they grew up, first, in the form 
of general elements ; second, in the form of special 
sciences ; and, last, in the form of the philosophy of 
science. Upon these points, however, sufficient has 
already been said. 

In the discussion which is to follow, concernine: 

methods of teaching the several branches of study, 

much care will be taken to point out the order in 

which the several parts of each branch should be 

10 



110 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

taught, and this will render unnecessary an investi- 
gation of the same subject in this place. It is de- 
signed here to show what different studies or parts 
of different studies can be profitably pursued simul- 
taneously. Our aim will not be to name these 
studies so much with reference to their logical rela- 
tions among themselves as with respect to their 
adaptation to the mental condition of pupils when 
they engage in their study. Constant reference will 
be had to the Classification of Knowledge already 
presented. 

Our education should never end, but that portion 
of our days which we appropriately devote almost 
exclusively to obtaining an education, may be called 
the school-time of life. Our school-time of life may 
be divided into four periods ; the first embracing 
the time from birth to the age of five years ; the 
second, from the age of five to ten ; the third, from 
ten to sixteen ; and the fourth, from sixteen to 
twenty-one. The first of these periods may be 
called Infancy; the second, CMldJwod; the third, 
Youth; iindtheionrth,3Ianhood. This classification 
will be of much practical value, but from the nature 
of the case it is a very loose one. The task we 
undertake is to name the branches of learning or 
the kind of study suitable for each period. A 
general statement is all that is practicable, and each 
teacher must work out the details for himself with 
the aid furnished him in subsequent chapters. 

First Period. — Lifaney. — The first care of a 
mother is to preserve her infant's health. The 



THE OEDER OF STUDY. Ill 

large number of deaths which occur during infancy 
proves such care to be necessary. 

'Not less important than the preservation of their 
health is the formation of the character of young 
children. Those traits of character which distin- 
guish a child at five years of age are most likely to 
distinguish him through life. Much influence may 
be allowed to the laws of hereditary descent, their 
due weight may be given to the circumstances of 
the school and of general society, and it will still be 
true that whether an individual possess the virtues of 
industry, perseverance, honesty, manliness, bravery, 
kindness, piety, and the like, or otherwise, will de- 
pend mainly upon the home instruction, or rather 
hoine-impressions, which children receive during the 
first five years of life. But w^e are at present con- 
cerned only with the intellectual acquisitions which 
a child can make during the period of Infancy. 
These intellectual acquisitions have been expressed 
by the terms Elements of Knowledge, and are con- 
sidered to form the bases of all we know. Such 
knowledge comes from an experience with objects, 
and is best learned, as will be shown hereafter, in 
series of lessons given without much regard to the 
scientific arrangement of their subject-matter. All 
classes of knowledge may be profitably embraced 
in a single lesson. Here, however, it may be best 
to point out what a child may learn during the 
period of Infancy concerning the elementary facts, 
phenomena, and forms of the great classes into 
which it has been deemed expedient to divide our 
knowledsje. 

An infant learns to speak. It is a wonderful pro- 



112 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

cess, and requires the guiding care of parents. The 
speaking instinct must be encouraged to manifest 
itself with the utmost freedom. The sounds of the 
language must be correctly uttered and proper forms 
of expression must be furnished, and the child's 
faltering tongue be taught to imitate them. If a 
child listen to good language, he will know no 
other. All bad habits of speech should be carefully 
corrected. 

E"umber is an idea which we obtain very early. 
Before the age of live, a child may be taught to 
count objects, and to add and subtract small num- 
bers by their means. He must be able to conceive 
forms in order to tell one object from another. He 
reasons, too, and should have his opportunities 'of so 
doing multiplied. 

Before a child can speak, objects may be given to 
him, and he will learn many of their properties in play- 
ing with them. Well-selected toys may be made to 
furnish valuable information. Th^ more he is allowed 
to hear and see, the sharper will be his senses and 
the more he will remember. It can hardly be said 
with sufficient emphasis that the kind of instruction 
most suitable for Infancy is that wdiich is addressed 
to the senses and the powers of perception — that 
w^hich can be best imparted by the direct presenta- 
tion of objects and their phenomena or vivid pic- 
tures of them. The intense curiosity of children 
prompts them to seek what is new, but they notice 
things as individuals, not in their connections, and 
nature on the surface so presents them. The Em- 
pirical sciences are based upon the facts of expe- 
rience, and, if allowed fit opportunity, a little child 



THE ORDER OF STUDY. 113 

will become acquaiuted with mnltitucles of these 
facts. 

During the period now referred to, the principles 
of the Eational sciences cannot be made the direct 
object of instruction ; but it is very evident that they 
are operative in the minds of children. They recog- 
nize the truth of such axioms as " A whole is greater 
than any of its parts" in relation to particular things, 
although they do not generalize them or understand 
their verbal expression. They also can be trained 
in a degree to discriminate between truth and false- 
hood, beauty and deformity, and right and wrong. 
No part of elementary education can be of greater 
importance than that of teaching the young to make 
these recognitions and discriminations, but there is 
no part of it more neglected. 

Nothing delights a child more than stories, narra- 
tives, and personal incidents, if related or read in 
language which he can understand. Good fruit 
could be produced by instruction of this kind. 

Children can learn to sing almost as soon as they 
can learn to talk. At the age of three or four, they 
wdll draw figures on a slate or blackboartl, cut paper, 
mould clay, build play-houses, and imitate many 
simple, mechanical contrivances. Such educators 
as Pestalozzi and De Fellenberg understood this 
want of children and provided for it. 

Secoxd Period. — Childhood. — If during the period 
of his life between the ages of five and ten years, 
a child does not learn to speak well, it is scarcely 
likely that he will ever do so. Pure models should 
be furnished him ; and he may be taught to speak 
10*. 



114 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

foreign languages as well as his mother-tongue. 
Exercises in Pronouncing, Spelling, Reading and 
Composing, may be commenced and prosecuted 
during this period. The meaning of a great number 
of words may be learned if properly illustrated and 
explained. Lessons on classes of words may be 
given, but Grammar proper is a study too difficult 
for children under the age of ten. 

During this period children can be readily taught 
to read and write numbers, and to perform the 
Mathematical operations of Addition, Subtraction, 
Multiplication, and Division, both of Integers and 
Fractions. These operations should be performed 
at first with objects, and both the mental and written 
forms of solution ought to be practiced. They may 
engage with great profit in the solution of simple 
problems involving these fundamental rules, but 
they cannot make much progress in reasoning about 
the relations of numbers. Pupils of this age, too, 
may be made acquainted with Geometrical figures 
and their properties so far as they can be exhibited 
to the eye by diagrams or blocks. Any except the 
simplest attempts at demonstration would be out of 
place. 'No generalization of the reasoning process 
can be understood by a child of ten years of age, 
and, therefore, theoretical Logic is beyond his reach. 
He can reason, however, and should be encouraged 
to use his powers in this respect. His questions 
should be answered, and he should be led to seek 
for the causes of things. 

From five to ten years of age, the powers of the 
mind which are predominantly active are the senses, 
the perceptive faculties, the memory, and the fancy ; 



THE ORDER OF STUDY. 115 

and these fit the mind for making observations and 
storing away facts. It cannot be doubted, therefore, 
that much time during this period should be spent 
in the study of the elements of the Empirical sciences. 
A child may be made familiar with thousands of in- 
terestins: facts, and learn the names of thousands of 
interesting objects. He may thus be made acquainted 
with the elements of Geography, Botany, Zoology, 
Astronomy, Katural Philosophy, Physiology, and 
other sciences like them. The simple facts of this 
class of sciences seem to be particularly adapted to 
the capacity of children between the ages of ^ve 
and ten, and peculiarly pleasing to their tastes. 
They are keenly alive to all that is new, or strange, 
or curious. Before the age of ten, however, it should 
be remembered, a child is not prepared to appreciate 
generalizations, abstractions, systems, or theories, 
and it is folly to attempt" to teach them to him. 
Children cannot be made philosophers ; but the 
condition of their mental nature admirably fits them 
for learning the names and more obvious properties 
of the multitudes of objects which the bountiful 
hand of God has scattered all about us as if His 
purpose was to furnish means of pleasing and 
instructing little children. 

Rational science is beyond the capacity of children 
of ten years of age ; but the principles upon which 
such sciences are founded, as previously stated, may 
be made operative in their minds. They operate, 
indeed, in the minds of all persons, however young 
or ignorant ; but by a studied presentation of occa- 
sions calculated to call them into activity, the mind 
receives that discipline which eventually prepares it 



116 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

for their apprehension and systematic elaboration. 
The kind of instruction, therefore, that was con> 
sidered proper up to the age of five must be con- 
tinued to the age of ten and longer. Any attempt 
to teach a child of this age to account for principles 
which are to him simply instincts that guide his 
life, or to make him comprehend eyen the first steps 
of a systematically arranged Kational science, would 
proye a fruitless labor. As inductions from par- 
ticular facts, such principles can be understood by 
a child ; but as abstract principles, independent of 
facts but conditioning them, they can be compre- 
hended only by mature minds. To open the minds 
of his pupils to the comprehension of these princi- 
ples in the only form in which they can be under- 
stood, as a preparation for understanding them in 
that higher form in which they become our main 
reliance in solving the greatest problems of life, is 
the highest duty of the educator. 

History, when presented in a form suited to their 
capacity, has great attractions for children. They 
like the play of life — like to read accounts of voyages, 
travels, and past events, and they do not forget what 
they read. They are especially fond of the novel 
and the marvelous. Fiction might be made highly 
useful in the work of education. A Fiction may 
be a faithful portraiture of life, and as such to be 
commended. The strong appetite which the young 
manifest for this kind of literature is not without 
its meaning. With judicious management it can be 
gratified without harm, and in due time will give 
place to other mental appetites, for which it is, in 
part, a preparation. 



THE ORDER OF STUDY. 117 

In the Arts, at this age, a pupil can be learning to 
draw and write. His Drawing ought to be confined 
to copying pictures, drawing simple objects from 
nature, and inventing easy j)atterns. He ought to 
learn to work, to imitate models, and to handle 
tools. It will do him good to visit shops and manu- 
factories. He should be taught to sing, and may 
begin to take lessons upon some musical instrument. 
Pictures will delight him, but not those which re- 
present some abstract idea, but those rather which 
exhibit life. 

Third Period. — Youth. — With respect to Lan- 
guage, instruction, during this period, should be 
continued in all that relates to Reading and Com- 
position. The pupil's vocabulary of words should 
be enlarged by careful study. The Grammar of the 
English language may be commenced at ten, and, 
if other languages are to be studied, they may be 
commenced at the same age. Some progress may 
be made in speaking, reading, and writing our own 
and other languages before this age; but their formal 
study cannot profitably commence earlier. A course 
of reading in both prose and poetry should be con- 
tinued through the whole period of youth. 

In Mathematics, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Alge- 
bra can be completed by the time a pupil is sixteen 
years, of age, at least so far as these subjects are 
treated of in our ordinary text-books. During this 
period, pupils must be carefully trained to habits of 
correct reasoning — they must be taught to observe 
the laws of Logic in their thinking. The higher 
generalizations of abstract Logic may be beyond 



118 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION-. 

their reach, but they can be made acquainted with 
the most useful forms of syllogism, and with the 
modes of discovering truth and exposing error. 

Competent to classify and generalize, the youth 
of fi'om ten to sixteen years of age may study the 
properties and phenomena of objects in connection 
with the laws that govern their relations. To do 
this he must not only observe, but he must search 
and make experiments ; and he should be so taught 
that he may rise gradually from the sphere of scat- 
tered facts to the sphere of united systems. During 
this period great progress ought to be made in 
sciences like Geography, Physiology, ;N"atural Phi- 
losophy, Chemistry, Botany, and Astronomy. The 
facts relating fo them should be classified, inferences 
should be drawn, and a general preparation should 
be made for the full discussion of their highest 
principles. 

The time for the study of the Pational sciences 
does not come to many before the age of sixteen. 
Instruction relating to them should, therefore, be 
continued in the spirit of that described as appro- 
priate for the period of childhood. In addition, 
however, at about the age of sixteen, pupils may be 
taught the distinction between universal, necessary, 
and self-evident truths and such as are empirical. 
Forms of expression may be given to some of the 
grand maxims which constitute the basis of all 
science, and pupils be taught to realize their truth. 
Undefined standards of truth, beauty, and goodness 
can be applied with great profit. Progress can be 
made in the arts which depend upon the principles 



THE ORDER OF STUDY. 119 

of the Rational sciences long before these principles 
themselves can be made an object of thought. 

During the period of youth, History should 
occupy a prominent place among the studies of 
every pupil who desires a liberal education, or who 
desires to guide his own life by the lamp of past 
experience. First in importance is the History of 
one's own country, then that of other countries 
most closely related to it, or that of those which 
have played the most important part in the world's 
affairs. Biographies of the good and great will be 
read with avidity, and are well calculated to exert a 
favorable influence upon the young. The historical 
development of the several sciences will furnish 
matter of much interest. From these sources, vast 
stores of facts can be collected, and will furnish a 
basis for the generalizations which belong to the 
Philosophy of History. 

Sufficient skill for the ordinary purposes of life 
may be acquired in Writing and Drawing during 
this period. Instruction in Yocal Music should 
continue, and if proficiency in Instrumental Music, 
Painting, or any other branch of an ornamental 
education be desirable, it can be most rapidly at- 
tained during the years between ten and sixteen. 
I think the Formal and the Empirical Sciences can 
be most effectually taught in connection with the ap- 
plication of their principles to the arts of which they 
are the bases. Sciences like Arithmetic, Chemistry, 
and Astronomy, excite much more interest in the 
minds of students when they see that they can be 
made practical — when they see their use in the 
arts. When the young exhibit special mechanical 



120 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

talent, or special talent in an art of any kind, that 
talent should receive special culture. 

Fourth Period. — Manhood. — At the termination 
of this period, the scholastic course of study is 
supposed to be completed. 

Suitable studies in language are Rhetoric, Criti- 
cism, Literature, and foreign languages, both an- 
cient and modern. 

Studies in the Formal Sciences should embrace 
the higher Mathematics and Logic. Their relations 
to other sciences should be pointed out, and an 
application of their principles should be made. 

The more abstruse principles of the Empirical 
Sciences studied during this period, can be mas- 
tered ; and such principles, and the relations of 
these sciences to one another, are proper objects of 
study for minds approaching maturity. Pupils 
may be encouraged to select some one of the 
sciences, and to prosecute original investigations 
with respect to it. The ambition to add something 
to the sum of human knowledge is a w^orthy one. 

This period should be characterized by the study 
of the Rational Sciences, furnishing as they do the 
noblest themes for human thought, and the best 
means of mental discipline. It will be fouiid, too, 
that their principles underlie all other sciences, and 
are necessary to their full comprehension. That 
teacher deserves the name of wise man, who, taking 
his pupils through many sciences, leads them at last 
to the firm conviction that faith is the only sure 
basis of all philosophy ; and this, when well under- 
stood, is the spirit of all Metaphysical study. 



THE ORDER OF STUDY. 121 

Plistory must now embrace the History of science 
and the History of philosophy, as well as reveal the 
principles that have ever worked changes in the 
affairs of men. Its highest province is to embrace 
all science and all art in its comprehensive narra- 
tions, and to trace out the causes and effects of 
human actions, and thus solve the problem of 
human life. 

If it is thought proper to continue the study of 
Drawing through any part of this period, it may 
include the principles of Shading and Perspective. 
Mechanical and Architectural Drawing might, in 
som^ cases, be taught. The time to be devoted to 
Music must depend upon other circumstances than 
those which arise from its nature. This, too, is the 
case with other arts, such as Painting, whicn are 
considered more ornamental than useful. From 
the age of sixteen to twenty-one, the realities of life 
begin to press themselves upon the attention of the 
young man or the young woman. They select a 
profession, or seek to prepare themselves for some 
kind of business. They feel the need of a profes- 
sional education ; and such an education aims not 
to impart knowledge of the sciences, but skill in 
the arts. The highest of all arts is the art of living 
ivell, and to this art all science contributes. Excep- 
tions apparently to the common order of things are 
the gifted sons of Genius — the great Artists of the 
world. To them we are indebted for the noblest 
creations of the human mind ; and, though but one 
such person — poet or prophet — appear in a century, 
a broad system of education cannot be unmindful 

of the great fact. 
11 



122 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. 

What has now been written is intended to intro- 
duce a discussion of those detailed methods of 
instruction of which it is the special object of this 
work to treat. In accordance with the classifica- 
tion of studies already made, the remaining part of 
the volume will be divided into seven chapters as 
follows : 

I. Instruction in the Elements or Knowledge. 
II. Instruction in Language. 
III. Instruction in the Formal Sciences. 
ly. Instruction in the Empirical Sciences. 
Y. Instruction in the Kational Sciences. 
YI. Instruction in the Historical Sciences. 
YII. Instruction in the Arts. 



CHAPTER 1. 

INSTRUCTION IN THE ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

What is meant by the elements of knowledge has 
already been explained. The elements of each 
branch of knowledge, or of each class of branches, 
might be treated of in connection with the discus- 
sion of the methods of teaching that branch or that 
class of branches ; but practically these elements are 
not separated but combined in early education. A 
child cannot study the sciences, but he can study 
the general facts which form their bases. 

The w^hole subject will be discussed in two sec- 
tions as follows : 

I. Informal Instruction in the Elements of 

Knowledge. 
II. Formal Instruction in the Elements of 
Knowledge. 

Under the first head it is intended to speak of 
that instruction in the elements of knowledo-e which 
a child acquires from parents, companions, and the 
circumstances that surround him, without any 
special teacher or any set lessons. Under the second 
the design is to discuss that kind of instruction 
which is now generally known by the name of 
Object Lessons. 

(123) 



124 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

I. Informal Instruction in the Elements of 
Knowledge. — How interesting to the educator is 
the infant soul in its efforts to attain freedom ! 
"Wrapt in sleep, how softly it awakens to a state of 
conscious existence ! Closely folded within the 
depths whence it comes, how gently its tender 
germs seek the light! An angel sent from God, 
with what seeming hesitation it sets its delicate 
feet upon the rough earth ! 

We know not what impressions a child may have 
received before that time, but the beginning of its 
instruction may be dated from the moment it knows 
itself — from the moment it shows, by looks or 
actions, that it recognizes something apart from its 
own being. Commencing at this tender age, a child 
must receive instruction suited in kind and method 
to its capacity. Children exhibit in their mental 
manifestations and predilections the kind of instruc- 
tion and training which they need. There are 
internal impulses which prompt them to satisfy 
their mental cravings. By carefully watching the 
outward play of these impulses, we may be guided 
in selecting the most appropriate means and methods 
of educating the young. "Follow the indications 
of nature," said Rousseau. In order to make the 
subject as definite as possible, the most important 
educational inferences which can be derived in this 
way, will be expressed in a series of propositions : 

1. Children should be Allowed ample Oppor- 
tunities FOR Exercising their Senses. — A child 
can exercise the senses of touching, tasting, and 
smelling before it can see and hear. Of the two 



INFORMAL INSTEUCTION-. 125 

last named senses I am not sure which is first awak- 
ened, that of seeing or hearing ; but when a few 
weeks okl an infant will look at bright colors and 
seem pleased with certain sounds. When a little 
older, it will follow with its gaze the motions of 
objects which attract its attention, and smile at the 
sound of voices or of music. Soon after it learns to 
hold and handle things, and to play with them, and 
all the senses begin to develop themselves rapidly. 

The maternal instincts of mothers generally teach 
them how to supply the intellectual wants of their 
young children. They sufier them to gaze at the 
lamp, or the open fire, at the sunlight as passing 
through openings in the window-blinds it plays 
upon the floor or about the curtains, at the bright 
colors of flowers, buttons, or clothing. They allow 
them to look through the casement at what they 
can see in yard, garden, street, or field. They 
amuse them with talking and singing, with rattles, 
little bells, or gingling keys. They place in their 
hands numerous playthings difi:ering in size, shape, 
texture, and color. They let them look at animals 
in motion, vehicles passing on the highway, and 
trees moved by the wind. 'No better mode of 
awakening the slumbering intellect of a child than 
this could be pointed out. It needs but to be 
applied with more intelligence. Mothers might 
place before their infants a great variety of objects 
presenting marked contrasts in color and sound; 
they might select and change their playthings with 
more judgment, and make more attractive the world 
of nature about them. 

The mental growth of a child from the time it 
11* 



126 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

becomes conscious of the existence of objects around 
it until the time it can walk is truly wonderful. Its 
power of discriminating colors, sounds, and consist- 
encies is greatly increased. Its senses are rapidly 
developed. It becomes alive to all that is passing, 
around it, and exhibits a strong inclination to touch 
and handle all objects within its reach. It learns to 
walk, and then commences the active exercise of its 
newly found powers. Drawers are opened, baskets 
upset, cupboards and closets explored, flowers 
plucked. The child seeks objects about the 
kitchen, parlor, shop, yard, garden, and, if allowed, 
on the highway or in the street. It is wide awake, 
and knowledge seems to be taken in through every 
pore. 

This is a precious season in which to sow the seeds 
of knowledge. Mothers especially at this time 
enjoy opportunities of pouring instruction into the 
opening mind. Says Harriet Martineau, "If the 
mother is at work, and the children are running in 
and out of the garden, it is only saying to the little 
toddler, ' ^ow bring me a blue flower ; now bring me 
a yellow flower; now bring me a green leaf.' At 
another time she will ask for a round stone ; or a 
thick stick ; or a thin stick. And sometimes she 
will blow a feather, and let it fall again ; or she will 
blow a dandelion-head all to pieces, and quite away. 
If she is wise she will let the child alone, to try its 
own little experiments, and learn for itself what is 
hard, and what is soft; what is heavy, and light; hot, 
and cold ; and what it can do with its little limbs 
and quick senses. Taking care, of course, that it 
does not injure itself, and that it has objects within 



INFORMAL INSTRUCTION. 127 

reacli in sufficient variety, she can do no better, at 
this season of its life, than to let it be busy in its 
own way. I saw a little fellow, one day, intently 
occupied for a whole breakfast- time, and some time 
afterwards, in trying to put the key of the house- 
door into the key-hole of the tea-caddy. "When he 
gave the matter up, and not before, his mother helped 
him to see why he could not do it. If she had taken 
the door-key from him at first, he would have missed 
a valuable lesson. At this period of existence, the 
children of rich and poor have, or may have, about 
equal advantages, under the care of sensible parents. 
They can be busy about aliy thing. There is nothing 
that cannot be made a plaything of, and a certain 
means of knowledge, if the faculties be awake. If 
the child be dull, it must, of course, be tempted to 
play. If the faculties be in their natural state of 
liveliness, the mother has only to be aware that the 
little creature must be busy while it is awake, and 
to see that it has variety enough of things (the sim- 
pler the better) to handle, and look at, and listen to, 
and experiment upon." 

2. Children should be Instructed in Learning to 
Talk. — Children are characterized by talkativeness. 
They possess a wonderful capacity to learn words 
and to form them into sentences. When five years 
of age, children have been known to speak with 
considerable fluency five difierent languages. 

The use of language renders the acquirement of 
knowledge more easy and rapid, if it is not essential 
to it ; and in this, probably, may be found the rea- 
son why children are endowed with the remarkable 



128 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

power just referred to. A child likes to know the 
names of all he sees, and is constantly asking, 
'' What's this?" and "What's that?" He prattles 
all day with father, mother, brother, sister, servant, 
playmate ; and, when no one will listen, he talks to 
his cat, bird, dog, toys, or to himself. It is just as 
natural for him to do this as it is for a plant to grow, 
or a bird to sing ; and his nature could not indicate 
more clearly that it is the duty of parents or teachers 
to instruct him in learning to talk. 

A child in learning to talk performs two distinct 
operations : the first, one of association ; the second, 
one of imitation. He first associates certain verbal 
utterances with particular things or thoughts, and 
afterwards learns to imitate them. In learning a 
word, therefore, a child must hear it correctly ut- 
tered, and then learn to utter it correctly himself. 

Instruction in learning to talk can be given to a 
child in two ways : first, indirectly, by good ex- 
ample ; second, directly, by correcting his errors 
and presenting him proper models for imitation. 

Parents should be careful, as far as practicable, to 
sufier their children to listen to none but pure and 
proper language, for they will imitate the language 
to which they listen. If the words they hear spoken 
are bad words, or the sentences uttered in their 
presence are inelegant or ungrammatical, no care in 
after life can completely correct the improper habits 
of speech thus formed. In order to prevent their 
children from forming such habits, parents should 
use good language in talking with them or in their 
presence, and be careful in the selection of servants, 
governesses, and others with whom they come in 



IN-FORMAL INSTRUCTION". 129 

contact. Especially should tins care be exercised 
in the choice of companions and playmates. A 
single afternoon spent in play with those who use 
them, will serve to introduce into a child's vocab- 
ulary quite a list of bad words and uncouth ex- 
pressions. His taste is thus blunted, and his heart 
may be poisoned. The Gracchi, it is said, were 
indebted to their mother's conversation for their 
eloquence ; and Alexander could never get rid of 
the defects of manner, gait, and speech which he con- 
tracted in his infancy from his instructor, Leonidas. 
Every one, indeed, must have noticed the difference 
in the language of children whose parents and asso- 
ciates exhibited good taste in their speech, and that 
of those who did not possess this characteristic. The 
scanty vocabulary and the rough forms of speech 
which characterize the poor peasant-child, whose 
parents are ignorant, contrast strongly with the full 
flow of words and finely formed sentences which 
distinguish the child whose parents are educated 
and refined. 

In addition to this indirect but most effective 
teaching by example, parents should take advantage 
of their capability of learning words so readily to 
impart to their children more directly certain kinds 
of instruction in language. It may be done by 
attentively noticing their articulation and their im- 
proper forms of expression, and carefully correcting 
them. For this time and patience will be required. 
The corrections should be made more in the manner 
of play than of formal instruction. The child could 
not appreciate reasons if given. The parent, noticing 
the fault, should present the correct model, and 



130 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

playfully induce the child to imitate it, once, twice, 
or as many times as may be necessary, until the 
difficulty shall be overcome. 

At two years of age, a child will understand little 
stories, if related or read to him in simple language, 
and such exercises furnish valuable lessons. After 
receiving them, children immediately exhibit in 
their conversation the forms of expression thus 
acquired. I cannot recommend these exercises of 
conversing and reading with children too highly. 
They should be engaged in every day. Those mis- 
pronunciations and misconstructions, called "baby- 
talk," however, are generally both hurtful to the 
child and unbecoming to the parent. 

Children can be taught to speak in learning to 
sing or in hearing others sing. They are nearly 
always fond of music, and will gladly commit little 
songs and hymns, and thus improve their speech 
while they cheer the household with their joyful 
melodies. 

3. Children should have their Appetite for 
Knowledge gratified. — It has already been shown 
that children should be allowed to exercise their 
senses, and it will now be made equally evident 
that their appetite for knowledge should be grati- 
fied. They should not only be encouraged to use 
their senses for the purpose of using them, but for 
the purpose of gaining knowledge. "With very 
young children the discipline of the senses is the 
principal end aimed at, but in a short time the 
attainment of knowledge assumes greater impor- 
tance. 



INFORMAL INSTRUCTION". 131 

Children exhibit great curiosity. They like to 
see things, to handle and examine them. They 
stand in raptures when papa opens his watch, or 
mamma her drawers, for them. All their waking 
hours are devoted to looking at things, playing 
with them, or tearing them to pieces. These rest- 
less inner promptings are natural to children, and 
indicate an educational want which ought not to be 
overlooked. The searching curiosity goes out 
through the active senses and returns laden with 
rich stores for the capacious memory. A beautiful 
correlation exists between the functions of the 
curiosity which prompts, the senses which are the 
instruments, and the memory which receives and 
retains, and the order of their development. This 
whole mental apparatus seems nicely adjusted to 
bring about the end of collecting multitudes of 
facts, and storing them away in the memory to be 
eventually classified, and made to constitute the 
data for scientific generalizations. 

The appetite children have for knowledge can be 
gratified by conversing with them. The names and 
qualities of things can be talked about — their color, 
size, form, weight, number, uses. Children ask 
many questions, and these, whenever possible, 
should be answered. Parents often rebuke their 
children for asking them questions, but this is to do 
them great wrong, since it serves to check the 
growth of the intellect, and may stop it altogether. 
If parents would spend a short time each day in 
conversation w^ith their children much valuable 
information could be imparted to them. The best 
method of presenting knowledge on such occasions 



132 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

is that of relating incidents, describing objects, or 
telling stories. Children will listen to such narra- 
tions with breathless attention, and receive from 
them lasting impressions. Quite similar to conver- 
sations of this kind is the practice of reading suit- 
able books to children. This practice may com- 
mence some time before the children themselves can 
read. Parents may read, and afterwards make 
what they have read a topic of conversation. If the 
selections be appropriate, and the conversations be 
judiciously conducted, parents can have the satis- 
faction of seeing the minds of their children expand 
like opening buds. 'Not the least important good 
derived from such exercises is their influence upon 
the character and opinions of children. 

The appetite children have for knowledge can be 
gratified by showing them interesting objects in 
nature and art. They may be made familiar with 
many minerals, flowers, trees, birds, reptiles, insects. 
"What valuable lessons they could learn about bees, 
ants, spiders, beetles, frogs ! "With what interest 
they would examine an ant-hill, an old hornet's nest, 
a spider's web, or the chrysalis of a butterfly ! How 
much knowledge they could gather in walks over 
fields, through woods, along streams ! Let there 
be pointed out to them, growing plants and ripening- 
fruit, birds building their nests, fishes sporting in 
the water, animals caring for their young, the shift- 
ing clouds, the many-colored rainbow, the dew-drops 
as they ghsten upon leaves and flowers in the morn- 
ing sunlight. No suitable opportunity should be 
lost of taking them to mills, factories, workshops, 
menageries, and museums. The Stereoscope and 



INFORMAL INSTRUCTION. 133 

the Magic Lantern may be used with much profit 
in exhibiting to them the scenery of distant countries, 
their cities, buildings, manners, and customs. En- 
gravings, too, may be made a most valuable means 
of instruction. Children love pictures, and nothing 
pleases them better than to be allowed the privilege 
of examining a picture-book. There is no mode 
probably in which a child can be taught so much in 
the same time as by means of pictures. The best 
pictures for the purpose are those which represent 
animated nature — scenes of life among animals or 
among men. Opportunities of pointing out the form, 
number, color, and other properties of the things 
they see should not be overlooked. Much valuable 
instruction of this kind can be imparted incidentally. 
The appetite children have for knowledge can be 
gratified by furnishing them with proper toys and 
playthings. A child needs play as much as he needs 
food. He must have it, and this disposition can be 
turned to good account mentally as well as physically. 
Whenever possible, a suitable apartment should be 
arranged in every house in which there are children, 
for a play-room where they might be allowed to run, 
jump, and play without danger to themselves or 
disturbance to others. This play-room ought to be 
provided with swings, hobby-horses, little wagons, 
jumping-ropes, balls, blocks of many shapes and 
sizes, and some w^ith prints of animals, letters, &c., 
upon them, wheels, beads of different colors arranged 
on strings, blackboards and chalk — anything indeed 
of which an interesting play can be made. To make 
these plays most valuable, some older person must 
assist in planning the plays and superintend the 

12 



134 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

children in playing. In fine weather the plays may 
take place in the open air. A yard with a sward of 
grass is the best place for them. The Infant Schools 
of Europe have gardens or yards attached to them 
in which the children sing, and dance, and play, 
under the constant care and direction of teachers 
whose presence is no restraint upon the fun, but 
who seize the fit opportunity to intermingle instruc- 
tion with it. In writing what has just been said, I 
have had in mind quite young children. Some 
additional playthings may be provided for those who 
are older. Among these toy-towns with difierent 
kinds of buildings, people and animals walking in 
the streets, vehicles passing along, &c. ; slates and 
pencils ; cup-and-ball ; paper for cutting pictures 
out of; clay for modeling figures ; tea-sets and house- 
furniture in miniature ; letters and maps cut into 
sections ; the Chinese puzzle ; blocks of great variety 
and shape, with which stools, chairs, tables, houses, 
monuments, towers, castles, churches, bridges, &c., 
could be made. For amusement out-of-doors, balls, 
kites, hoops, bows and arrows, carts, wheelbarrows, 
garden tools, quoits, and other things of the same 
kind are proper. It must not be supposed that it is 
expected that any one family will i^rocure all the 
articles mentioned, the design is only to name those 
out of which selections may be made. Toys and 
playthings should be kept under lock and key, and 
children be allowed at one time only those articles 
which they may choose or which may be considered 
proper for them. Frequent changes will keep them 
ever new. Besides, children should be allowed to 
exercise their own ingenuity in inventing means of 



INFORMAL INSTRUCTION". 135 

enjoymeut. It will be observed that our list of toys 
and playthings includes only those which may be 
made use of for the purposes of instruction and 
discipline, and these are the only kinds I would 
permit children to handle. Space need not be taken 
up in describing in detail the manner of mingling 
instruction with play, for after what has already 
been said the instincts of those who sympathize w^ith 
children will guide them correctly. 

4. Children should be furnished occasions for 

APPLYING their POWERS OF KNOWING WHAT IS TrUE, 

Beautiful, and Good. — Truth has been defined as 
the correspondence betw^een thought and its objects. 
There are diiierent kinds of truth, but no classifica- 
tion of them is needed here. The truths w^ith which 
a child becomes first familiar may be called truths 
of perception. He learns by means of his senses 
that iron is hard, that ice is cold, that roses are red, 
that birds sing, that plants grow green in the sun- 
shine, that animals need food, that water seeks a 
level, that the whole is equal to all its parts ; and 
every eftbrt should be made to widen his experience, 
for this will fix in his mind the correspondence be- 
tween thought and thing. The stories children are 
so apt to tell arise mainly from defective observa- 
tion or from the mistake they sometimes make of 
supposing that the pictures of their fancy are the per- 
ceptions of their senses. A child that comes to his 
mother and says that he saw a cow in the field that 
has five legs, or that he talked with his grandfather 
who is a hundred miles away, does nothing at which 
a parent should be alarmed. Habits of correct ob- 



136 ELEMEIS^TS OF KN"OWLEDGE. 

servation will make it all right. A judicious mother 
would take her child by the hand and go and look 
at the cow, or ask him to find the place where he 
met his grandfather, and a good lesson would be 
taught him. Always set a child right when he says 
a thing that is wrong, and never fail to give him 
every chance of learning what is true. A very 
young child can recognize the difference between 
truth and falsehood. If his brother tell him that 
his ball has rolled behind the door and he does not 
find it there, or that a bright penny is in one hand 
when he finds it in the other, he shows by his looks 
that he understands the deception that has been 
practiced upon him. I am firmly convinced that 
it is in great measure owing to the deceptions of 
w^hich he is the witness on the part of servants, play- 
mates, brothers and sisters, and even parents, that a 
child learns to tell falsehoods. How can he remain 
pure and innocent wdiile he beholds constantly about 
him those who practice exaggeration, deception, and 
falsehood ? Let all conduct in the presence of a 
child be open and shicere, let all words spoken be- 
fore him be honest and truthful ; and, furnished 
with such occasions, he will not only learn w^hat is 
true but be truthful. One who is himself truthful 
will trust others, and this is the ground upon which 
rests our earliest and purest faith. 

Children appreciate the beautiful in objects at a 
much earlier age than is generally supposed. I 
have noticed well-marked evidences of such appre- 
ciation at the age of two years. This taste for the 
beautiful, like the early buddings of a tender plant, 
requires careful culture. The attention of children 



INFOEMAL IXSTRUCTIOX. 137 

may be easil}^ called to beautiful flowers, trees and 
birds ; to the rippling brook, the towering moun- 
tain, the rising or the setting sun ; to pattering 
rain-drops, falling snow-flakes, and drifting clouds. 
Nature is everywhere full of beauty, and it may l)e 
used with an unsparing hand to make glad the 
hearts of children. Art, too, has beauties which are 
attractive to the young. Of course, they cannot ap- 
preciate a fine painting or piece of statuary ; but 
they are keenly alive to what might be called sur- 
face beauty — that which depends upon color, form, 
proportion, motion, and like qualities. Let their 
thirsty spirit drink at these fountains until they come 
to find purer draughts deeper down. If every child 
could have a bed of flowers to plant and cultivate, 
or a pet bird or rabbit to care for, it would do much 
to improve his taste and awaken feelings of ten- 
derness and love. 

Clearly there is a power within us which God de- 
signed to enable us to distinguish between right 
and wrong. We may not make good use of it and 
accept error for truth, but that does not invalidate 
the certainty of the great fact that the faculty- exists. 
Young children can discriminate between good acts 
and bad acts, and this power they seem ready to 
apply when proper occasions are presented. If the 
good is constantly exemplified in the conduct of 
those who surround a child and whom he loves, his 
sense of right and wrong must be quickened by the 
exercise it would receive. Would that all parents 
felt the great importance of this fact ! Besides, pains 
can be taken to point out good acts to a child — acts 
of honesty, justice, kindness, mercy, gratitude, pa- 

12 * 



138 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

triotism. Life in every neighborhood has incidents 
of this kind, and history is full of them. Let his 
conscience be kept active by frequent appeals to it, 
and the child will grow daily in virtue. 

What is said in the preceding paragraphs is predi- 
cated upon the assumption that the human mind 
has the power in itself to determine what is true, 
beautiful, and good, and that the duty of the in- 
structor consists only in multiplying occasions for 
its exercise. But to arrange these occasions so as 
to answer their end is a work so delicate and difficult 
that none but the most accomplished teachers can 
perform it skilfully. Something, however, may be 
done by all who love children and sincerely desire 
to have them become virtuous and happy themselves 
and a blessing to mankind. 

5. Children should be allowed pacilities for 
PRACTICE IN THE ELEMENTS OF THE ARTS.^The men- 
tal nature of children is characterized by vigorous 
imitative powers and a lively fancy. This leads 
them to imitate and contrive things, and gives zest 
to many kinds of play in which they delight. 

A slate and pencil or blackboard and chalk may 
be made very useful for the purpose of preparing 
children to write and draw. At first, a child might 
be allowed to make such marks as his fancy prompted 
or he might be encouraged to imitate simple figures 
of various shapes and sizes. If any one desires to see 
how much a child is interested in this kind of work, 
let him draw while the child looks on, the picture 
of a cat, a dog, a house, a stage-coach, and witness 
the cifort he will make to imitate it. ' If a little 



INFOEMAL INSTRUCTION. 139 

judicious help be given, a child will spend willingly 
an hour or more every day at such exercises. 

Like instruction may be derived from other em- 
ployments in which children greatly delight, such 
as coloring pictures or cutting them from paper or 
pasteboard; moulding various kinds of objects from 
terra cotta, such as animals, flowers, fruit, dishes, 
boats, &c. ; building with suitable blocks, houses, 
castles, bridges, &c., or making of them tables, chairs, 
bedsteads, &c.; dressing dolls and arranging doll- 
honses; imitating the several varieties of work 
which they see going on in the kitchen, in the shop, 
and on the farin ; and I recommend them all as 
means of instruction which may be made very valu- 
able by judicious management. Much information 
can be furnished children likewise, by allowing 
them to visit shops and manufactories and to see 
machinery in operation. 

Every father who has young sons would find it 
much to their advantage to provide a shop in which 
they could work, and supply it with suitable tools. 
Sets of children's tools can be bought for a few 
dollars, and their value in making boys more inge- 
nious and active can scarcely be calculated. Girls 
can derive similar benefit from needle-work, crochet- 
work, and embroidery. Whatever may be their cir- 
cumstances, children should learn to work. Ability 
to handle tools will not prove amiss in any sphere 
of life. 

AVithout such instruction as that now indicated, 
the productive powers of children would remain 
undeveloped, and all thinking persons must acknow- 
ledge that this would be a grave educational error. 



1-10 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

II. Formal Instruction in the Elements of 
Knowledge. — The preceding section has given hints 
as to the kind of instruction children ought to receive 
in their younger years, and as to the methods by 
which it should be imparted. This informal or inci- 
dental instruction must be continued as the child 
advances in years and acquirements, but in addition 
he must receive other instruction more formal and 
systematic. He must be trained to more regular 
habits of study. He must learn to work as well as 
play. Knowledge should not merely be presented 
to him in disconnected fragments but in regular 
lessons. 

Thinking men accustomed to observe the mental 
nature of children were long ago convinced that 
the dry and tedious methods of hearing them give 
the names of letters, and spell and pronounce words, 
as usually practiced in Primary Schools, could not 
be the best to awaken interest in study or develop 
the powers of the mind. Children have a natural 
appetite for knowledge, but it must be presented in 
such a form as adapts it to the condition of their 
mental digestive-apparatus, or it will cloy that appe- 
tite instead of satisfying it. 

As we have seen, a child's first intellectual lessons 
are learned wholly in connection with objects. 
"When older, if allowed to follow his instinctive 
promptings, objects will still engage his attention 
and supply the object-matter about which he thinks; 
and it is obviously unwise to divert his intellectual 
faculties from their natural course in obtaining 
knowledge. The lessons constructed in view of 
this theory are generally known by the name of 



FORMAL IN-STRUCTIOX. l-il 

Object Lessons ; and Object Lessons may be defined 
as lessons designed to teaeh the Elements of Knowledge 
hy the use of objects. 

It is proposed to consider : 

1. The Design of Object Lessons. 

2. The Matter of Object Lessons. 

3. The Preparation for imparting Object 

Lessons. 

4. The Method of conducting Object Lessons. 

5. The Dangers to which the Object-Lesson 

System is exposed. 

1. The Design of Object Lessons. — The general 
design of Object Lessons is made sufficiently plain 
in the definition just given, but it may be well to 
state it a little more in detail. 

Object Lessons supply a want in elementary in- 
struction. 1^0 one can be mistaken as to the lessons 
of which children are most fond. Their intense 
curiosity, their active senses, their capacious memo- 
ries, and their great loquacity indicate very clearly 
the direction in Avhich they can be best educated. 
Little is done, however, in most schools to take 
advantage of these vigorous rcTanifestations of certain 
mental faculties. Pupils in our Primary Schools 
are made to sit down, shut themselves away from 
the world of objects in which they might find so 
much to interest and delight them, and engage in 
the dull work of learning to read, write, and cipher 
— dull, because abstract. Reading, writing, and 
arithmetic must be learned, and may be learned to 



142 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

some extent in the Primary School ; but neither of 
these branches, nor others like them, can meet the 
pressing educational wants of children. The true 
philosophy of education teaches that advantage 
should be taken of all mental capabilities at the 
time, in the manner, and with respect to the degree, 
in which they manifest themselves. This wise 
mental economy is much disregarded in the common 
methods of teaching; and the quick perceptive 
powers of children, their strong memory, and their 
lively fancy are made much less use of than they 
might be in imparting knowledge, and are suffered 
to remain almost altogether without systematic dis- 
cipline. Children might learn much more and 
learn it in a much more grateful manner, they might 
receive much more mental discipline and receive it 
much more in accordance with the nature of their 
minds, if a well-devised system of Object Lessons 
were substituted for the usual course of elementary 
instruction. A child is a germ put into the hands 
of the educator, and it is his duty to supply the con- 
ditions necessary to its full development. No poten- 
tiality of its nature should be allowed to lie dormant, 
no talent should be buried, and unjust will be the 
steward who violates his trust. 

Object Lessons impart valuable knowledge in a 
form best suited to the capacity of children. Object 
Lessons teach things, facts, phenomena, words, in 
short, the elements of knowledge — the foundation 
upon which the whole superstructure of learning 
must rest. Children have strong impulses prompt- 
ing them to learn. They are constantly obtaining 
knowledge without a teacher. ligature teaches 



FORMAL INSTRUCTION. 143 

them, and they enjoy her teachings. Object Lessons 
are intended to lead the child methodically in the 
way nature indicates that he should be taught. At 
first, they present to him things which are simple, 
and afterwards those which are less easily discerned 
or less easily comprehended. 

A characteristic feature of the object method of 
teaching is that the matter presented to the pupil 
may be greatly varied. It is a common practice in 
our schools to confi.ne young children to one or two 
special branches of study; and of these they soon 
grow weary, and consequently misspend much of 
their time. A variety of objects must be presented 
to children in order to enlist their attention, and 
gratify their appetite for knowledge. A child may 
learn lessons in the elements of all the sciences as 
he walks through field or meadow. E'ature has not 
separated one class of things from another, but 
presents all in rich profusion. The teacher should 
learn from her. 

Object Lessons furnish the best discipline for the 
young mind. By the ordinary methods of teaching 
a child his letters, to spell, and to read, he receives 
very little mental discipline. The same is true of 
the process of committing to memory and repeating 
forms of words which are not understood and are 
soon forgotten. But let a child use his senses in 
observing and noting the qualities of interesting 
objects, and it will soon be perceived that his whole 
intellectual nature is developing itself. One might 
as well deprive a plant of light or heat, and expect 
it to grow, as to endeavor to impart healthy mental 
discipline to a child without the presence of objects. 



144 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE 

The concrete should precede the abstract in the 
work of education. 

2. The Matter of Object Lessons. — The field 
from which the objects themselves may be chosen is 
as boundless as nature. It may embrace multitudes 
of things in the mineral, vegetable, and animal 
worlds, and multitudes of events in the history of 
mankind. Writers upon Object Lessons have given 
long lists of such objects, and it is quite unnecessary 
to repeat them here. It is of much more impor- 
tance to determine the principles which ought to 
guide the teacher, not merely in the selection of 
proper objects for his lessons, but in the disposition 
of the matter connected with those objects with which 
he would make his pupils acquainted. The princi- 
ples about to be stated will be better appreciated if 
the reader will keep in view the fact that Object 
Lessons are designed to teach the elements of know- 
ledge, and that the expression, elements of know- 
ledge, is here intended to comprehend the elements 
of all the sciences and arts. 

The matter of Object Lessons must be adapted to 
give exercise in their early growth to all the mental 
faculties. In the simple perception of an object 
and its discrimination from other objects, a child, 
probably, calls into requisition every faculty of his 
mental nature. It is a psychological error to sup- 
pose that any of his mental powers are dormant. 
Some manifest themselves more activety or more 
obviously than others, but all act, and all should 
be furnished an opportunity of gaining strength. 
Teachers have been accustomed to consider Object 



FORMAL INSTRUCTION". 145 

Lessons simpl}^ as designed to give culture to the 
perceptive powers ; but this is a very narrow view 
of the subject. As the perceptive powers are more 
active in youth than any others of our mental facul- 
ties, they are more capable of receiving culture, and 
Object Lessons are peculiarly adapted to impart it; 
but it should not be imparted to them to the neglect 
of any other faculty of the mind. The matter of an 
Object Lesson, in addition to what it contains that 
can be known by the senses, may present something 
to be retained in the memory, something to excite 
the imagination, something to start a train of reason- 
ing, or something to call into play one of those 
ideas of the reason which, whether consciously or 
unconsciouslv, condition all our tbinkino-. Take, 
for example, such a simple object as a piece of 
bread. The teacher may call the attention of his 
class to the sowing of the seed, the gathering of the 
harvest, the threshing of the grain, the grinding of 
the flour, the baking of the bread — all of which 
furnish exercise to the perceptive powers and the 
memory. The imagination is exercised as well in 
conceiving the ripening wheat, harvest-time, the 
threshers at their work, the mill, the bakery. A 
very little child can answer such questions as — "Why 
is the ground ploughed and harrowed when it is 
desired to sow it with wheat ? Why is the ripe 
wheat gathered and put in barns ? Why is it 
threshed out and taken to mills? — and thus learn to 
use his judgment or learn to think. So, too, it would 
be proper in giving such a lesson, for the teacher to 
say that God gave us the grains of wheat ; He causes 
it to grow; He ripens it and makes it fit for food; 

13 ^ ■ 



146 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE, 

and lie is good. Such instruction will find a lodge- 
ment in children's minds, hecause it is adapted to 
their mental nature, thus showing that the noblest 
faculty of our minds, the reason, is active in early 
youth. 

The matter of Object Lessons must be adapted to 
increase the pupil's facility in the use of language. 
Thoughts are helpless without words. But words 
are best learned in connection with things. With 
fit opportunity, it is surprising how rapidly a child 
becomes acquainted with language, but the ordinary 
instruction of our primary schools does not furnish 
this opportunity. If the system of object teaching 
is not diverted from its true function, it will give 
prominence to linguistic culture. According to 
this system, the names of things, and the names of 
qualities of things are constantly pressed upon the 
attention of the pupils. They are taught, not only 
to make observations, but to tell what they know, 
to repeat what they have learned ; and every lesson 
acquaints them with new words. A constant suc- 
cession of interesting objects is made to pass before 
them, and they are taught to give them names. An 
Object Lesson is, in part, an exhibition of objects, 
and, in part, an application of words, and the two 
processes should be inseparable. 

The matter of Object Lessons must be adapted to 
communicate the elementary fiicts which constitute 
th<e foundation of knowledge. It was previously 
shown that all the sciences took their rise from the 
common experience of men. A child can be made 
to experience by design what men at first experi- 
enced incidentally or by accident, and this is one of 



FORMAL INSTRUCTION". 147 

tlie principal ends proposed by the object S3\stem of 
teaching. A child can be made acquainted with an 
immense number of facts, which are not only valua- 
ble in themselves, but form the basis of further 
knowledge. Almost every common object may be 
made the subject of interesting lessons. Many of 
the objects technicallj^ belonging to the various 
branches of ISTatural History, many of the simpler 
phenomena of experimental science, certain national 
peculiarities of customs and manners, and large 
numbers of historical incidents, when properly pre- 
sented to children, are w^ell calculated to instruct 
and delight them. The experience of children can 
thus be made broader, and a great number of 
valuable facts and useful words be stored away in the 
memory. 

The matter of Object Lessons must be adapted to 
expand the elementary ideas which furnish the con- 
ditions and measure of our knowing. That there 
are such ideas has been already shown, and no 
student of the human mind can doubt it. 'No 
exhaustive enumeration of them will be attempted 
here, as this is properly the work of the mental 
philosopher. It may be said, however, that they can 
be divided into two great classes : Eynpirical ideas, 
or those which are derived from experience, and 
are limited by it; and Rational ideas, or those of 
wdiich experience is simply the occasion, and which 
transcend experience. These form respectively the 
bases of the Empirical and the Rational sciences. 
Among the ideas which I would denominate empi- 
rical, are those of form, number, relation, size, weight, 
cob?', consistencii, locality, ^c.^ which relate to material 



148 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

things ; and those of duty, right, truth, beauty, good- 
ness, ^c, which are moral qualities. Among the 
ideas which I would call rational ideas, are those of 
space, time, order or harmony, identity and difference, 
the infinite, the absolute, the true, the beautiful, and the 
good. Chronologically the former class of ideas pre- 
cede the latter in consciousness, but logically they 
are evolved from them. For example, a child 
realizes the idea of form before the idea of space, 
but the idea of space contains all possible forms. 
So the idea of number is involved in the idea of 
time, the idea of relation in the idea of order or 
harmony, the ideas of particular truth, beauty, or 
goodness in the all-comprehending ideas of the true, 
the beautiful, and the good; but in all these cases, 
and in all others, the mind passes from that which 
can be presented in a concrete form to that which 
can only be conceived abstractly. Hence lessons in 
form, number, relation, &c., are valuable in them- 
selves, and more valuable for furnishing the occa- 
sions of the reali2?ation in consciousness of the all- 
comprehending ideas which involve them. 

If the ideas now designated do furnish the con- 
ditions and measure of our knowing (and no think- 
ing man can doubt it), it should be one of the 
principal aims of those who instruct the young, to 
expand them, or to increase the knowledge which 
is based upon them. Their ideas of form can be 
expanded by having children notice, describe, and 
name objects of various forms; draw these forms 
upon slates, paper, or blackboards ; or imitate them 
in wood, stone, or clay. Their ideas of number can 
be expanded by counting objects, as beans, pebbles, 



FORMAL IN'STRUCTIOX. 149 

or grains of corn ; and adding, subtracting, multi- 
plying, and dividing them. ]^o object exists in 
nature that has not its relations — its relations to 
other objects, and the relations of its parts to one 
another; and many of these are so simple that 
children of five years of age, and even younger, 
can understand them. Other ideas relating to ma- 
terial things may be expanded in the same way. 
Moral ideas must be expanded by acquainting chil- 
dren vrith the acts which exemplify or illustrate them. 
History, biography, personal experience, must be 
made to contribute stores of incidents that can l)e 
made to do much to enlarge the conception chiU 
dren have of right and wrong, and to form their 
character to virtue. 

The matter of Object Lessons must be adapted to 
improve the artistic taste and talent of the young. 
Children have productive as well as receptive 
powers. These productive powers can be stimu- 
lated to activity by the exhibition of objects of art. 
The teacher can call their attention to the structure 
of houses, bridges, mills, vehicles, articles of furni- 
ture, and machinery in great variety. Such lessons 
are lessons on objects, and so are those which relate 
to the mechanism of plants, animals, and the human 
frame-work. They can also receive exercise in 
practicing the elements of writing, drawing, paint- 
ing, and making things of wood, and stone, and 
cla}', or of any other suitable materials. Fathers 
and mothers could attend to this duty better than 
teachers, but teachers can do much. Our schools 
cannot have shops connected with them, as had 
those of Pestalozzi and.De Fellenberg, but still such 

]3* 



150 ELEMENTS OP KNOWLEDGE. 

instruction can be given in them as greatly to im- 
prove the taste and talent of the yonng. 'Nov need 
this instruction be wholly confined to what are called 
the useful arts, for it happens that many children 
can ajjpreciate some of the artistic qualities which 
distinguish the grander works of nature, and the 
finer creations of man. 

It need scarcely be added that the matter of 
Object Lessons must be selected and arranged with 
reference to the age and acquirements of pupils. 
Some objects may furnish matter more appropriate 
as lessons for young pupils, and other objects be 
better suited for the study of those who are older ; 
but it will often happen that the same object may- 
be used in teaching both classes, provided due regard 
is paid to their . intellectual difierences. Objects 
generally have some qualities, resemblances and 
difierences, relations, and uses which are easily dis- 
cerned and open to the observation of children ; and 
others which being more hidden require close in- 
spection, or careful experiment to reveal them. 
Sheldon's work on Object Lessons makes -^ve series 
of lessons each more difiicult than the preceding. 
This is an excellent arrangement. 

3. The Preparation for imparting Object Les- 
sons. — An important part of the preparation for 
imparting Object Lessons consists in procuring suita- 
ble objects. Knowledge is most efiectually con- 
veyed to children through the medium of the eye. 
Whenever it is possible, therefore, the teacher 
should present to his class the object upon which he 
desires to give a lesson. For this purpose primary 



FOEMAL INSTRUCTION. 151 

schools should be furnished with cabinets of Things. 
These should contain many common objects; col- 
lections from the mineral, animal, and vegetable 
kingdoms ; tools used by different tradesmen, and, 
if possible, specimens of manufactured articles ; 
models of machinery ; curiosities exhibiting the 
manners, customs, and degree of civilization among 
tribes and nations ; coins ; sets of weights and mea- 
sures ; blocks of various forms ; in short, any object 
about which a useful lesson may be given. Some- 
times, it is more convenient for a teacher to take his 
class to see an object than to bring the object into 
the presence of the class. Children are greatly pro- 
fited by visits to a museum, a menagerie, a gallery 
of pictures ; by rambles down a valley, through a 
wood, or along the ocean shore, and they should 
frequently be indulged in them. 

"When the object itself cannot be exhibited to a 
class, the best substitute is a picture of it. A vast 
amount of useful knowledge might be pleasantly 
imparted to the young by means of pictorial illustra- 
tions. At present such illustrations are mainly 
used incidentally ; I would make a systematic use 
of them. There have been prepared in Europe, and 
some of them in this country. Charts of Lines and 
Forms, Charts of Colors and Colored Cards, Charts 
of ISTatural History, Charts of Common Things, 
Moral Prints, Scripture Prints, and Prints illustra- 
tive of the History and Peculiarities of ^N'ations. It 
would not be very difficult to prepare a set of en- 
gravings which might be used to great advantage in 
elementary instruction. If a teacher can draw, the 
blackboard is a never-failing resource. 



152 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Ill addition to objects and pictures of objects, there 
are certain kinds of apparatus that seem indispensa- 
ble in the work of primary schools. Children will 
watch with intense interest the revelations of the 
Microscope. A Stereoscope can be used with great 
advantage, as can also a Magic Lantern. A teacher 
can procure, with trifling expense, the means of 
making many simple philosophical and chemical 
experiments, and his pupils will be delighted with 
them. 

But with all it is necessary sometimes to rely 
upon descriptions. "When this is the case, the de- 
scriptions, whether given by the teacher or presented 
in a book, must be of the most lively character. 
The story must be well told, and calculated to 
awaken in the most vivid mannej the imagination 
of children. Most children are fond of the novel, 
the marvelous, and the witty, and this fondness must 
be turned to good account. 

A teacher of Object Lessons must prepare himself 
both in respect to the matter and the method of the 
lesson. A text-book may enable a teacher ignorant 
of the subject of the lesson to ask questions of his 
pupils and know whether their answers are correct 
or otherwise ; but all such botchwork as this is out 
of the question in object-teaching. In giving an 
Object Lesson, a teacher must collect and arrange 
his own materials. His knowledge of the matter he 
would present must be full, precise, and ready, or a 
failure is inevitable. ]^o proper inquiry from a 
pupil should take him by surprise or make him hesi- 
tate for on answer. 

'No small degree of skill is required to adopt a 



FORMAL INSTRUCTION. 153 

proper method of imparting a lesson on an object. 
The matter must be arranged with reference to its 
own logical relations, and also with reference to its 
adaptation to the mental capacities of the class. 
This work requires skilful handling, and cannot be 
done without careful consideration. The difficulty 
is increased when a general subject is intended to 
be developed by a series of lessons, which is always 
best except with the youngest pupils. It is a good 
plan for a teacher first to fill his mind with the 
details of the subject, and then arrange them under 
prominent headings, calculated to present the parts 
of the lesson in their proper relations, and to make 
an impression upon the minds of his pupils. He 
may write out a full sketch of the lesson for his own 
convenience, but a well-planned outline of it is 
indispensable. Such an outline should not be 
referred to at the recitation, but it should be strictly 
followed. Without such adherence to a method, 
the desultory modes of thinking which characterize 
children will make the lesson fruitless of good in 
efi^ecting that mental discipline which is its main 
object. Still the outline should only guide, not 
cramp, the recitation. An Object Lesson should not 
consist merely of a number of questions asked and 
a number of answers given ; the teacher should 
propose to himself in every lesson certain points to 
be presented, certain ends to be attained, and then 
strive to accomplish what he purposes. It is more 
a training than a teaching exercise ; and each ques- 
tion should be put with a w^ell-defined object, and 
other questions should follow until that object be 
attained. 



15i ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Something will be gained in all cases if the 
teacher would announce the object about which a 
lesson is to be given some time before the recita- 
tion takes place. When this is done, the pupils 
can make some preparation for the lesson. They 
can observe, make inquiries, and, instructed to that 
extent, can increase their information by reading. 
It does not follow that because the kind of instruc- 
tion now contemplated is called Object Lessons 
that pupils are precluded from increasing their 
knowledge from books, and it is well to have suit- 
able books, books of reference, books containing 
pictures of objects and descriptions of them, pro- 
vided in every primary school. A lesson about an 
object of which the pupils know nothing will 
always be dull, and is likely to be profitless. 
Teachers sometimes furnish an outline of the pro- 
posed lesson to their pupils before the recitation, 
and this practice, it is thought, guides them in 
their search for information, and enables them to 
make a more systematic arrangement of it. 

4. The Method of Conducting Object Lessons. 
— A school-room presents no more delicate or 
difficult work than the recitation. N'othing else 
tests more severely the teacher's skill. This is 
especially the case with lessons on objects. In most 
other recitations, the text-book furnishes some help, 
but in giving an Object Lesson a teacher is thrown 
mainly upon his own resources. 

The teacher is supposed to have in his mind the 
point which he wishes brought out in the lesson. 
This may be the communication of a knowledge of 



FORMAL INSTRUCTION. 155 

important facts, the pointing out of a quality, the 
development of a principle, the expansion of an 
idea, the exhibition of a relation ; but whatever it 
is, it must be allowed to give direction to the recita- 
tion. Going forward with a well-defined aim, the 
recitation has three stages which should be severally 
noticed: 

First, it is the teacher's duty to obtain all the 
information concerning the matter of the lesson 
which may be in the possession of the class. He 
may ask questions or make suggestions, but before 
giving any information himself he must be sure that 
no member of the class could give it. Pupils will 
not exert themselves to prepare a lesson unless they 
think they will have permission to show what they 
have learned. A lesson about an object is not in- 
tended to be a lecture upon it. Besides, if the 
teacher does the observing and thinking for his 
class, the disciplinary purposes of the Object Lesson 
are in great measure defeated. 

Second, it is the teacher's duty to give his pupils 
the opportunity of finding out all they can. Skill 
in teaching does not so much consist in what a 
teacher imparts to a class as in what he leads them 
to find out for themselves. In object-teaching 
especially pupils should be constantly prompted to 
observe new facts, explain new phenomena, and 
perform new mental operations. Each lesson is a 
voyage of discovery in which the teacher acts as 
captain and pilot, but in which the pupils make, 
record, and elaborate the observations. When 
pupils hesitate for an answer, they should not be 
told it directly unless hints will not suggest it to 



156 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

tliem, or they cannot be brought to infer it from 
what they have previously learned. To lead a pupil 
from what he knows to find out what he does not 
know requires the highest order of teaching talent, 
and to attain this ability should be the constant aim 
of the teacher. Without it, no successful object- 
teaching is possible. 

Third, when pupils have exhausted all their 
knowledge acquired before the recitation and all 
their ingenuity in adding to it during the recitation, 
the teacher may impart any further information he 
deems proper. 

The three stages of a recitation now named are 
sufficiently well marked, but of course it is not 
meant that any one of these stages can be completed 
in all the particulars of a lesson, until the others are 
entered upon. The teacher must not wait to give 
hints or impart knowledge in regard to one point, 
because the pupils have not exhausted their infor- 
mation in regard to others. 

5. The Dangers to which the Object Lesson 
System is exposed. — Doubtless the greatest danger 
to which the Object Lesson system is exposed arises 
from the want of a proper appreciation of it on the 
part of teachers. Many teachers even who profess 
to use the system, entertain extremely narrow views 
respecting it. They do not apprehend the great 
educational truth that a// the sciences rest upon certain 
elements as bases, and that these elements are only knoivn 
hy means of our experience with objects. The system 
of object-teaching well understood is broad enough 
to embrace all the elements which constitute the 



FORMAL IXSTRUCTION. 157 

foundation of knowledge, and that system is much 
disgraced hy those who allow it to degenerate into 
loose lessons on pieces of paper, bits of glass, lumps 
of sugar, or stalks of grain. Besides, those who 
would fully comprehend the sj^stem of object-teach- 
ing must study its adaptation as a means of develop- 
ing the mental faculties of children as well as of its 
capability, when well administered, of imparting 
instruction in the elements of knowledge. With 
an inadequate conception of the function of Object 
Lessons it is no wonder that many teachers fail in 
securing any advantage from them. 'No one who 
has been accustomed to a slavish dependence upon 
text-books can succeed. But success is possible to 
all who possess teaching talent and strive to make 
themselves acquainted wdth the nature and design 
of Object Lessons. 

In addition to the danger to the Object Lesson 
system which arises from ignorant teachers, several 
special dangers to which it is exposed may be briefly 
referred to. They all arise from a misconception as 
to the true nature of Objecf Lessons, or are faults in 
the methods of imparting such lessons. 

The Object Lesson system is apt to become an 
exercise in learning words without ideas. Children 
are capable of making great progress in the use of 
language, and they should be instructed with refer- 
ence to this end. In giving a lesson upon an object, 
it does not seem objectionable to allow children to 
name every quality they can readily discern, nor do 
I see any serious objection to the use of scientific 
names ; but it is objectionable and quite contrary to 
the spirit of the Object Lesson system, for children 
u 



158 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

to commit to memory the names of the qualities of 
things which they cannot be made to perceive with- 
out great difficulty, if at all. The lists of the names 
of the qualities of certain objects, as they appear in 
some of our works on Object Lessons, ought to be 
much shortened. 

The Object Lesson system is apt to tempt the 
teacher to introduce matter into the lesson which 
the pupils cannot comprehend. This is a temptation 
to which all teaching is liable, but it seems to be 
stronger when the teacher makes his own selection 
of matter for a lesson than when that matter is 
arranged in a text-book. At any rate, the fact is cer- 
tain that many who impart instruction in Object 
Lessons err in this particular. The desire is so 
great to communicate to others what seems most 
important or is most interesting to ourselves, that if 
such teachers could sit in judgment upon their own 
work they would find it to consist, not wholly in an 
effort to impart the simple elements of knowledge 
adapted to the capacity of children, but in an efi:brt 
to expound principles of science quite beyond their 
comprehension. 

The Object Lesson system is apt to continue 
instruction in the concrete after pupils can appreciate 
the abstract. All instruction should commence with 
the concrete. The elements of all kinds of know- 
ledge must be taught in connection with objects, 
but an acquaintance with material things is far from 
being the highest end of study; and object-teaching 
pushed too far tends to degrade education. Back 
of all there are principles, ideas, controlling things, 
which are the soul's most nourishing pabulum. 



FORMAL INSTRUCTION. 159 

Soon after a child has learned to count with objects, 
he may begin to count without them - soon after he 
has become acqainted with real forms, he may begin 
to deal with ideal ones. Through facts and phe- 
nomena he should be led to apprehend the laws that 
control them and the Lawgiver. The contempla- 
tion of truths should bring into clear consciousness 
the idea of truth, and of virtues, virtue. 

The tendency of the times is towards materialism 
in education. It manifests itself in the oft-repeated 
objections which are made to the study of the 
Ancient languages, to the study of higher Mathe- 
matics, and especially to the study of Metaphysics. 
In this spirit some have favored Object Lessons, be- 
cause it was thought the system tended to cultivate 
in the young a taste for concrete rather than abstract 
science, to teach them to handle substantial realities 
rather than airy nothings. Blind guides these ; all 
earthly phenomena are fleeting, while the powers 
that cause and govern them are eternal. Herbert 
Spencer, in his inquiry as to " What knowledge is 
of most worth?" arranges education with reference 
to its relative degree of worth into the following 
classes: 1st. That education which prepares for 
direct self-preservation ; 2d. That which prepares 
for indirect self-preservation ; 3d. That which pre- 
pares for parenthood ; 4th. That which prepares for 
citizenship ; 5th. That which prepares for the mis- 
cellaneous refinements of life. All this looks like 
an implied denial of man's immortality — as if the 
interest of self was man's only interest. But is that 
education of highest worth which prepares for 
direct self-preservation ? I am not unmindful of the 
value of life, but surely there are many things for 



160 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

which it is well to sacrifice it. The preservation of 
life is not to he compared in importance to the pre- 
servation of the soul's integrity. Let education he 
guarded from the influence of a low materialism. 
Concrete science is worth much, hut ahstract science 
is worth more. The former is hut a means of reaching 
the latter. Let us devoutly study the works of the 
creation, hut let us not forget that God made them. 

The Object Lesson system is apt to cramp the im- 
agination, and weaken the trustfulness, of children. 
Every one has noticed the lively imagination of 
children. They gild the narrow horizon of their 
vision with dreams. Elysian fields cover all their 
future. Unless this characteristic indicates an ah- 
normal condition of the youthful mind (and no one 
can believe that it doesj, it is wrong to limit their 
education to the acquirement of dry, hard facts. 
Facts must he learned, true enough, hut we must 
allow some room for the play of the imagination. 
It is a great mistake to suppose " That facts alone 
are wanted in life." The sunlight plays about the 
rugged mountain heights, and silver lakes nestle 
down below frowning crags and cliifs. I would but 
chasten his imagination, I would not destroy a single 
air-castle of a child. 

God made children trustful, l^o scheme of edu- 
cation could be worse than one which proposes 
never to describe anything to a child which he 
cannot see, never to tell a child anything which he 
cannot understand, for this would be to weaken the 
power which was given him to be developed into 
that faith which lays hold of things unseen — im- 
mortality, God. Doubts will come soon enough, 
and strong enough ; childhood is the time for trust. 



CHAPTER II. 

INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

" Man, in fact," says Sir William Hamilton, "only 
obtains the use of his faculties in obtaining the use 
of speech ; for language is the indispensable means 
of the development of his natural powers, whether 
intellectual or moral." The truth of this statement 
is unquestionable, and it shows at once the de- 
servedly high place Language holds in a course of 
study. For its beauty as a science, for its useful- 
ness as an art, for its disciplinary advantages as a 
study, Language can scarcely be outranked in excel- 
lence by any other subject open to the contemplation 
of finite minds. 

The following divisions are deemed proper : 

I. Instruction in our Mother-Tongue. 
II. Instruction in the Dead Languages. 
III. Instruction in Living Foreign Languages. 

I. Instruction in our Mother-Tongue. 

I^obody will deny that to be able to read and write 
our Mother -Tongue with accuracy and facility is a^ 
valuable acquirement, but even some teachers hold 
that its further study is of little use. In these cir- 
cumstances it may be worth while to make a few 

U* (161) 



162 instructions" IX language. 

statements intended to favor the study of the English 
Language as a science. 

A knowledge of the Enghsh Language, as a 
science, is necessary to a nice appreciation of it. 
One who is accustomed to hear well-spoken dis- 
courses, or to read well-written hooks, may be able 
in good degree to understand the meaning and per- 
ceive the beauty of what he hears or reads ; but to 
enable an individual to appreciate those more deli- 
cate shades of thought, or those finer touches of 
beauty, which may be expressed in words, careful 
study is necessary. If any doubt it, let them test 
the matter. Take a poem of Milton's, or an oration 
of "Webster's, and enter upon a critical examination 
of it with a well-read man who has never studied 
Grammar or Rhetoric, and you will most likely find 
that many things relating to its arrangement, its 
choice of words, its introduction of figures, its con- 
struction of sentences, its order of paragraphs, have 
almost altogether escaped his attention; and that 
even man}^ things which he has noticed he cannot 
express in appropriate words. JSTo art, indeed, can 
be fully appreciated without a knowledge of the 
science or sciences upon which it is based, and lan- 
guage is no exception. 

A knowledge of the English Language, as a 
science, is necessary to its skilful use. "With suita- 
ble models for imitation, a child may learn to speak 
and write correctly. A favored son of genius may 
be so gifted with speech that without the prepara- 
tion of study he can lead men captive by the charms 
of his poetry or the power of his eloquence. But 
these facts do not invalidate the proposition which 



OUE MOTIIER-TOXGUE. 163 

heads tliis paragraph. Suitable models for imitation 
may, indeed, enable a child to speak and write his 
Mother Tongue with as much accuracy as is gen- 
ei^ally required by the common usages of society, 
but the degree of skill thus acquired would be en- 
tirely inadequate to the higher purposes of Litera- 
ture. If the gift of genius in the use of language, 
on the part of the one who has it, be taken as a fact 
indicating that no necessity exists for study on the 
part of the thousands who have it not, there is no 
reason why the same principle might not be applied 
to all human efforts, for in each of these, at some 
time, genius has enjoyed triumphs. It is not possi- 
ble for ordinary men to use language w^ith skill who 
have not closely studied the signification of words, 
the structure of sentences, the characteristics of 
style, and the composition of discourse. The Greeks 
made their language a prominent object of stud}^, 
and the classic elegance of their writings is the 
delight of all readers. The Parisians, by the same 
means, are fast making the French the language of 
refined society throughout Europe. Demosthenes 
prepared his unequalled orations with immense 
labor, and the same is true, with fewer exceptions 
than is generally supposed, of all great speakers 
and writers. 

A knowledge of the science of the English Lan- 
guage is valuable for its own sake. We study not 
merely to use, but to know. Knowledge is of much 
worth in itself. Language is subject to laws which 
control its growth, its changes, its constructions. 
If it is worth while to study the laws which relate 
to the mineral masses of the earth, to plants, to 



164 INSTRUCTION" IN LANGUAGE. 

animals, to stars, it cannot be less worth while to 
study the laws which relate to human speech. The 
science of the English Language contains as much 
worth knowing as any other science, the study of it 
is as valuable for discipline, and as well calculated 
to lift the mind up to the contemplation of what is 
most noble in human life and human thought. In- 
deed, it would seem that our Mother-Tongue ought 
to have more interest for us than almost any other 
thing. It is by means of our powers of speech that 
we hold converse with our friends, in words we 
embalm our thoughts, in words our heart's highest 
aspirations are expressed. Except the soul itself, 
earth can present nothing more wonderful or more 
clearly evincing Divine wisdom and goodness than 
Language. 

A knowledge of the science of the English Lan- 
miaire is valuable to us on account of the relations 
of the science of language to other sciences. Lan- 
guage must be used to record all the observations 
and discoveries which are made in any department 
of science, and the scientific man feels the constant 
want of words adapted to express his meaning. He 
sees things which he cannot describe ; he feels 
thoughts stir within him which he cannot express. 
Suftering from such a disability, he says what he 
does not mean, and is misunderstood, perhaps 
maligned. The history of s(^ience records many 
"wars of words." Bacon, Locke, and many other 
writers lament the errors in science which arise 
from a misuse of language. "While language has 
thus an intimate general relation to all the sciences, 
its relations are particularly close to History and the 



THE ALPHABET. 165 

Pliilosopliy of tlie Mind. The language of a people 
reveals their inmost life, ^ot only what they did, 
but what they were, becomes fossilized in words, and 
men can read the record after the lapse of centuries. 
So the mind reflects itself in speech as in a mirror. 
The laws of thought are found expressed in the laws 
of speech, and hence the sciences of Logic and 
Grammar have much in common. 

The preceding statements, showing the value of a 
knowedge of our Mother-Tongue, prepare the way 
for a detailed discussion of the methods of instruc- 
tion adapted to the various branches which relate 
to it. Generall}^ stated they are as follows : 

I. Learning to Eead our Mother-Tongue. 
IL Learning to Understand our Mother- 
Tongue. 
III. Learning to Compose in our Mother- 
Tongue. 

I. Learning to Eead our Mother-Tongue. 

Under the head of Learning to Read our Mother- 
Tongue, we will discuss methods of imparting 
instruction in the Alphabet, Pronunciation, Spelling, 
and Beading, 

The Alphabet. 

Already something has been said concerning 
methods of teaching children to speak correctl}^, 
hereafter something further will be presented on the 
subject ; here some degree of familiarity with spoken 
w^ords on the part of the. pupil is taken for granted. 



166 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

Reasons liave been given also why the instruction 
of a child should commence with things rather than 
with words ; but, since there will come a time when 
he must be made acquainted with written language, 
we will now consider methods of teaching the 
Alphabet. 

There are tAventy-six letters in the Alphabet of 
the English Language. In order that children be 
made acquainted with these characters, they must 
learn : first, to know their forms ; second, to asso- 
ciate their names with their forms. That will be 
the best method of teaching the Alphabet which 
impresses the forms of letters most deeply upon the 
memories of learners, and succeeds in making the 
most lasting associations between these forms and 
their names. 

In teaching the forms of letters, the sense of sight 
is addressed ; and in teaching their names, the sense 
of hearing. To the blind, a knowledge of the forms 
of the letters is communicated through the sense of 
feeling. The deaf and dumb cannot learn the names 
of the letters — they can learn to write but not to 
read. 

It is possible that our English letters are the 
changed forms of symbols used by the ancient 
Phoenicians or Eg^^ptians, and they may once have 
represented real objects; but now they are wholly 
arbitrary. Many other forms might be adopted that 
would answer the purpose just as M^ell. The names 
of the letters, too, are arbitrary ; at least so far as a 
child can understand. The names of some of them 
do possess an analogy to the sounds they are in- 
tended to represent ; but there are so many depar- 



THE ALPHABET. 167 

tures from this principle that little practical advan- 
tage can be derived from it in teaching. A child 
cannot see why de is a more appropriate name for 
the letter d, than ge would be ; why z should be 
called ze, instead of zed^ izzurd, or any other name ; 
nor why the twenty-six names in use have been 
chosen in preference to as many others. 

To learn our Alphabet, then, a child must become 
acquainted with twenty-six arbitrary forms, and 
associate with them twenty-six arbitrary names. 

Infants first notice objects, as cat, dog, clock; 
next, they learn to associate certain verbal utter- 
ances with these objects, and always look for the 
thing when its name is mentioned ; and, finally, ' 
they attain the power of imitating these utterances, 
or they learn to talk. Objects familiar to a child 
may be represented by pictures, and he may be 
exercised in naming the objects thus represented. 
Such exercises upon the pictures of familiar objects 
may be followed by others upon the pictures of un- 
familiar objects, and the child may be taught to call 
the pictures of a lion, a tiger, a camel, an ostrich, 
&c., by their right names. Other lessons might 
acquaint the child with the forms and names of 
some of the simpler diagrams used in Mathematics, 
such as squares, triangles, circles, and rectangles. 
These exercises seem to present a series of easily 
followed progressive steps from the first attemj^ts at 
talking to the task of learning the Alphabet. They 
follow essentially the steps which preceded the in- 
vention of the Alphabet. The principle is the same 
in all, that of learning forms and their names. The 



168 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

Alphabet is more difficult to learn, because its forms 
and names are arbitrary. 

The Alphabet may be taught in two ways : first, 
by commencing with letters; second, by com- 
mencing with words. The first may be called the 
A B Q Method, and the second the Word Method. 

1. The ABC Method. — The ABC Method 
commences with letters. As the manner of con- 
ducting a recitation in the Alphabet, according to 
this method, depends somewhat upon the kind of 
apparatus used, a convenient classification may be 
based upon it. 

1st. The Manner of teaching the Alphabet from a 
Book, — As the Alphabet was taught some yeaTS 
ago, and as it is taught now to a more limited 
extent, each pupil was provided with a book, called 
a Primer, or an A B C Book, from which he recited 
his lesson. Teachers generally called their pupils 
up singly, and, with pen, pencil, or pen-knife, 
pointed to the letters, from a to z, or from z to a, 
and asked their names, or told what they should be 
called. The whole twenty-six letters were named 
in quick succession, little efi:brt was made to im- 
press their forms or names upon the pupils' memo- 
ries, no questions were asked or instruction given 
apart from the lesson which might be calculated to 
add interest to it, and the work of recitation was a 
short process, but a very dull and dry one. 

More skilful teachers may use books in teaching 
the Alphabet to better advantage. Instead of pur- 
suing a fixed order in their teaching, and invariably 



THE ALPHABET. 169 

passing from the first letter of the Alphabet to the 
last, or from the last to the first, they may select at 
the commencement a few of those letters which 
possess the most easily remembered forms, describe 
them, ask questions about them, and engage their 
pupils in searching for them among other letters. 
Used in this manner, the Alphabet may be taught 
from a book quite readily ; but as only one at a time 
can be heard conveniently, this manner of conducting 
a recitation loses the advantages of classification; 
and, besides, looking at and talking about forms are 
not the best conditions for remembering them. 

2d. The 3fa7iner of teaching the Alphabet with Cards. 
— Cards used for giving instruction in the Alphabet 
should be large, and the letters should be printed 
upon them in large type. The first Card might 
have a few of the letters most easily learned, as 0, 
X, and S, placed prominently in the centre, and the 
same arranged promiscuously with a few other 
letters about the maro:in. The second Card mio;ht 
have a few additional letters placed in the centre, 
and these, with those first learned, and a few others, 
might be made to occupy the margin, as in the first 
Card. This arrangement of the letters should be 
continued upon other Cards until the whoM Alpha- 
bet was presented. 

Imagine such a set of Cards, a suitable frame 
upon which to place them, the teacher with pointer 
in hand, and a class of pupils, and you will be 
ready to appreciate the lesson which is about to be 
described. 

The teacher first calls the attention of his class 

15 



170 INSTRUCTION" IN LANGUAGE. 

to the large letters in the centre of the Card. He 
speaks of their forms, peculiarities, and resem- 
blances ; gives their names, repeats them, and asks 
appropriate questions about them. Then, the inter- 
esting search for the letters, as they are arranged 
about the margin of the Card, commences. Mary 
finds six es, but John detects another one. James 
counts four 6's, but the rest insist that one of them 
is a d. Sarah finds out three rs, and no one can 
find another. Emma names a letter, and the rest 
are requested to look for it. It is p. The eager 
search begins, and it is eager, for Emma well knows 
thatp is a hard letter to remember, and there is but 
one on the Card. James calls out, "I have it." 
Other letters are named and found ; and when the 
recitation has ended, the pupils take their seats 
reluctantly, and wait impatiently till the time again 
arrives when they can have another game of " hide 
and seek" with letters. It cannot be doubted that, 
with Cards skilfully used, a knowledge of the 
Alphabet can be quickly and pleasantly imparted. 

3d. The Manner of teaching the Alphabet on the Slate 
or Blackboard. — The best way of impressing forms 
upon the memory is to make them. In drawing an 
object, one is compelled to look at it closely, and 
follow out all its details, and this is well calculated 
to deepen the impression it leaves upon the mind. 
For this reason, the slate and blackboard, upon 
which letters may be copied, are considered useful 
articles of apparatus in teaching the Alphabet. 

If the teacher can draw skilfully, he may place 
letters for imitation upon the slate or blackboard; 



THE ALPHABET. 171 

but if not, he must have suitable printed letters for 
models. 

In conducting a recitation, the teacher may tirst 
require his pupils to imitate the forms of several 
letters which he has placed upon the blackboard. 
Kext, he may engage them in criticising their own 
work, and comparing it with the models. All the 
peculiarities in the forms of the letters must be 
commented upon. If deemed expedient, the letters 
may be redrawn. The teacher may draw the letters 
awkwardly on purpose, in order to excite interest, 
and induce criticism. Finally, the names of letters, 
thus drawn, may be given, pointed out by the chil- 
dren, and repeated in various ways. 

One of the advantages of using the slate and 
blackboard, in teaching the Alphabet, is that the 
teacher can furnish pleasant employment for the 
class when not^engaged in reciting. Lessons which 
have been recited may be repeated upon the 
pupils' slates at their seats, or upon blackboards 
suitably located for the purpose ; or new lessons 
can be prepared in the same manner. Children are 
very fond of work of this kind, and it will be found 
greatly to facilitate their progress. 

There are certain letters in the English Alphabet 
which, from the similarity of their forms, are more 
difficult to distinguish than others, such as A and V, 
M and N", and E and F, among capital letters; aud 
h and ^, p and q^ c and ^, and u and n, among small 
letters. The distinctions between such letters can 
be more prominently brought before the learner's 
mind when exhibited upon the blackboard than in 
any other way, and if he be required to draw them 



172 INSTRUCTION IN" LANGUAGE. 

repeatedly himself he cannot easily forget them. 
For the purpose of illustration, we will take the 
letters, 5, c?, p, and q^ and describe a lesson upon 
them. Having drawn the letters conspicuously 
upon the black-board, the teacher may call the 
attention of the class to their forms, leading them 
to see that these are composed mainly of two parts. 
He may then draw these parts separately, and give 
them names. I call them stem and curve. After- 
wards, it will be well to draw' a stem, and by placing 
the curve, first at the top, and then at the bottom of 
the stem, and upon both sides^ it will be shown that 
all the letters can be made. Let the teacher now 
satisfy himself that his pupils know their right hand 
from the left, and he may send them to the black- 
board, with the direction to draw a stem, and place 
the curve at the bottom, at the top, on the left side, 
on the right side, until they are quite familiar with 
all the forms, and can draw them readily. The 
names of the letters may now be given, and the 
teacher will ask such questions as these : If I place 
the curve at the top of the stem on the right-hand 
side, what letter do I make ? If I place it on the 
left-hand side at the bottom, what letter do I make? 
On the left-hand side at the top ? On the right-hand 
side at the bottom ? Which letter is p ? Which is 
d? Which is h? Which is q? How is d made? 
How is q made? Where do you put the curve in 
making b? Where do you put it in making p? 
The lesson may conclude by requiring the pupils to 
make each of the letters upon the blackboard when 
its name is given. 



THE ALPHABET. 173 

4th. The Manner of teacJdng the Alphabet with Let- 
ter-Blocks. — It is easy to obtain small blocks with 
letters painted or pasted upon them, and these may 
be made to answer a good purpose in teaching the 
Alphabet. To make the lesson most interesting 
and profitable, each pupil should possess a set of the 
blocks. 

At recitation, the pupils should be stationed 
around a table or desk, each with his blocks before 
him. The teacher may first require the pupils to 
separate all the letters they think they know^ from 
those they do not, and have mistakes corrected by 
the class. He ma}^ then take up a block upon w^hich 
is the letter he designs to teach, and make them 
acquainted with its form and name, and request each 
pupil to select a similar letter from among those 
before him. If ^ny make mistakes, the class should 
correct them. When several letters have been 
selected in this way, the remaining time of the reci- 
tation may be devoted to teaching those selected. 
Suppose c, e, h, and k to be the letters selected. 
Each pupil will push aside all his other blocks, and 
with these only before him, the recitation is ready 
to proceed. The teacher may hold up each letter 
in succession, and inquire its name; a pupil may be 
appointed to hold up the letters, while the others 
name them; or all may be required to select the 
letters w^hen the teacher gives their names. The 
teacher may make words w^ith the letter-blocks, and 
ask the pupils to imitate them, both wdien they have 
the privilege of looking at them, and from memory; 
or words, as models, may be given in books, or 
placed on a blackboard. 
15* 



174 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

Letter-blocks may be cut into sections ; and pupils 
can be amused and instructed in putting the sections 
together so as to form letters. The differences be- 
tween letters which are nearly alike can be strikingly 
exhibited in this way. If, for example, one block 
represented the stem of the letters 5, d^ p, and q, and 
another the curve, it would be easy to show their 
relative position in the formation of these letters. 

The letter-blocks can be used most conveniently 
with a frame. Such a frame is called a Reading- 
Frame. The body of the frame maybe made some- 
what like a common blackboard, about three feet 
wide, and long enough to allow two feet to each 
member of a class. At convenient distances apart, 
horizontal grooves should be placed along the face 
of the frame in such a manner that the letter- 
blocks would stand upright when placed in them. 
At the base of the frame, and extending out a foot 
or more in front, there should be boxes appro- 
priately divided into apartments for the blocks. All 
the Alphabetical exercises which can be performed 
with letter-blocks, can be better performed with a 
frame constructed in this manner. It is used some- 
what as type are set; and words and sentences can 
be built up and taken apart by children with as much 
interest as they would take in a puzzle. "With the 
"Education Tables," manufactured at Windham, 
Connecticut, and consisting of block-letters moving 
in grooves, I have seen children teach themselves to 
spell words and to read short sentences with very 
little assistance, and that given in answer to their 
questions. 

It has now been shown how books, cards, slates 



THE ALPHABET. 175 

and blackboards, and letter-blocks may be used in 
teaching the Alphabet. All that remains to be said 
is that all these articles of apparatus may be used 
by the teacher at his pleasure, or they may be com- 
bined in teaching. A teacher violates no principle 
if he use book, cards, blackboard, and blocks at 
the same recitation. Children are fond of variety, 
and it can hardly be doubted that a teacher who 
varies his methods and means of teaching will cause 
his pupils to make more progress than one who con- 
fines himself to a single method or to the same 
means, even though he may choose the best. 

2. The Word Method. — The ABC method of 
teaching the Alphabet commences with letters, and 
when the pupil is sufficiently acquainted with these, 
he proceeds to learn words by a process of synthesis. 
T^he liiBthod of teaching the Alphabet about to be 
/described commences with words, and proceeds by 
/ a process of analysis to resolve them into their com- 
-ppnent letters. 

The first step in a linguistic course of study is to 
become acquainted with oral words. Children learn 
the names of things. They learn to talk. Starting 
here, there may be found a series of nice gradations, 
which, if followed in teaching, will lead naturally to 
a know^ledge of the Alphabet. 

1st. Lessons upon the Names of Pictures. — The 
pupil has learned the names of objects. By pictures 
he will learn that objects can be represented, and he 
will acquire the power also of looking closely at the 
details of diiferent forms in order that he may dis- 



176 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

tinguisli one from another. These picture-lessons 
may be given from books or cards prepared for the 
purpose. 

2d. Lessons upon the Names of Words. — These 
lessons may at first embrace only the words which 
stand for the objects represented in the pictures. 
They should be printed near the pictures in order 
that an intimate association may be formed between 
the picture, its name, and the word which stands 
for the name. In asylums for the blind, labels with 
raised letters cut upon them, are sometimes attached 
to familiar objects, in order that an easy connection 
can be formed between the object and the word 
which symbolizes it. After such an introduction, 
the pupil should be exercised upon the names of 
words, disconnected from pictures or objects. A set 
of cards could be easily contrived presenting, first, 
pictures without words; second, pictures with words, 
and, last, words without pictures. 

3d. Lessons upon the Names of Letters. — Having 
learned to use spoken words, and to distinguish some 
written words, pupils would seem to be prepared to 
analyze these words afnd ascertain the parts of which 
they are composed, or to learn their letters. The 
words first selected for analysis should be short, 
should represent some familiar object, and should 
be composed of letters which are easily learned ; 
such as ox^ coxv^ cat^ hoy, hen, kc. In analyzing words 
into letters, books, cards, slates, blackboards, and 
letter-blocks may be used as described when speak- 
ing of the ABC method. Pupils, having been 



THE ALPHABET. 177 

made familiar with the letters composing certain 
words, can make the words on slates and blackboards, 
or form them with letter-blocks. 

Several reasons may be given in favor of the "Word 
method of teaching the Alphabet. 

It is the natural method. Children use words in 
speaking, and the transition seems natural from 
spoken words to written words, and then to the 
letters of which words are composed. If we com- 
mence with letters, there can be no immediate con- 
nection between that knowledge of language which 
the pupil has and that which he is expected to ac- 
quire. Besides, the Word method follows the order 
in which written language was invented. Characters 
were first used for objects, next for words, and last 
for letters. 

It possesses more interest for children. A child 
cannot be made to take much interest in abstract, 
arbitrary forms like a, h, c ; while all children delight 
in talking about a hird^ a dog^ a hell^ a coach^ and con- 
sequently may be pleased to learn the words for 
such objects, and the letters composing such words. 
Teachers unconsciously show the truth of what is 
here said, when they tell their pupils that a stands 
for apple, h for boy, and d for dog, &e. 

It aids pupils in learning to pronounce. The 
pupil necessarily learns the pronunciation of some 
words in learning the Alphabet, but the benefit 
claimed has reference to the habit he acquires of 
associating the names of words with their forms ; 
and it will be shown in the article on methods of 
teaching pronunciation that the learner is more de- 
pendent for his skill in pronuciation upon such 



178 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

associations tlian upon the names or the sounds of 
the letters. 

Two additional suggestions will close the discus- 
sion: 

The names and the sounds of the letters should 
be taught cotemporaneously. If the ABC 
method be adopted, the powers of the letters should 
be taught before attempting to teach pronunciation, 
for the names of the letters are of little use in pro- 
nouncing. Practice will prove moreover that both 
the names and sounds of letters can be taught 
in nearly the same time that either can be, and 
hence dictates the policy of teaching them together. 
If the Word method be adopted, the -analysis of 
words into the letters of which they are composed, 
and into their component sounds, will prove each an 
advantage to the other. The variety this double 
analysis will furnish w^ill add interest to the lesson, 
and since the eye is engaged in one, and the ear in 
the other, the process cannot be wearisome. Noth- 
ing need be said specially in regard to the methods 
of teaching the sounds of the letters, as their names 
and sounds must be taught substantially in the same 
manner. The sounds of letters, however, are more 
difficult to utter than their names, and the teacher 
must train his pupils to utter them after him, and 
carefully guide them i^ placing their organs of 
speech in the proper position to do so. 

The capital and small letters should be taught at 
the same time. Those letters which are alike will 
be remembered from their resemblance ; and those 
that differ, from contrast; and one class of letters 
will be needed by pupils about as soon as the other. 



PRON-UNCIATIOISr. 179 

Pronunciation. 

Pronunciation consists in naming words upon 
seeing the cliaracters which compose them, or hear- 
ing uttered the names of these characters or the 
sounds represented by them. In reading, words are 
usually pronounced upon seeing the characters which 
compose them. A familiar word can be pronounced 
without seeing it, if some one name the letters of 
which it is composed; and the pronunciation of all 
words is but the combination of their elementary 
sounds. 

The orthographical peculiarities of the English 
language render the work of acquiring its pronun- 
ciation exceedingly difficult. If there was a single 
character to represent every elementary sound in the 
language, the name and sound of the letters would 
be identical, and the pronunciation of a word would 
merely consist in a synthesis of its elementary sounds 
and could present no serious impediment to the pro- 
gress of a learner. But we are to speak of methods 
of teaching the Pronunciation of the English Lan- 
guage, and must therefore accept it as it is. 

Pronunciation may be taught in two ways ; first, 
by causing the pupil to name or notice the characters 
composing words, and utter in combination the 
sounds they are intended to represent. This may 
be called the Synthetic method. Second, by causing 
the pupil to associate the names of words with their 
forms. This may be called the Associative method. 

1. The Synthetic Method. — The names of all 
words are syntheses of their elementary sounds. If 
each linguistic sound was represented by a single 



180 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

letter, and the name and sound of the letter were 
the same, the teaching of Pronunciation would con- 
sist: first, in acquainting the pupil with the elemen- 
tary sounds ; second, in impressing upon his memory 
the characters by which these sounds are repre- 
sented ; and, third, in teaching him to pronounce 
words by uttering the sounds in combination. This 
is strictly a process of synthesis. 

"With respect to the English language, each sound 
is not represented by a single letter, and the names 
and sounds of the letters are seldom identical. Our 
present task is to show how the Pronunciation of 
such a language can be taught synthetically. As 
might be supposed, the Synthetic method has as- 
sumed several forms, each of which will be dis- 
cussed in its order. 

1st. The Alphabetic Method. — To commence pro- 
perly the work of teaching Pronunciation according 
to this method, the pupils must know the names of 
the letters of the Alphabet. When able to point out 
and name all the letters presented individually, they 
are required to point them out and name them as 
they occur in words, and then to pronounce the 
words. At first, monosyllabic words which contain>y 
no silent letters are selected, and afterwards the 
pupils are gradually introduced to more difficult 
monosyllabic, dissyllabic, and polysyllabic words. 

This is the method generally practiced in our 
schools; but it will require little argument to show 
that it cannot be the best that might be adopted. 
The radical error underlying it is the assumption that 
the name of a word is a synthesis of the names of 



PRON-UNCIATION. 181 

the letters composing it — a thing which is not true 
of a single word in the English language. A child 
cannot know upon merely naming the letters in a 
word, what sounds they represent, whether other 
letters may not represent the same sounds, or 
whether they represent any sounds at all. Take 
such simple words as at^ go^ me ; name the letters, 
and then combine the sounds nttered ; and there 
will be formed a result wholly unlike the names 
of these words. If the simplest words cannot be 
pronounced by combining the names of their com- 
ponent letters, still less can words like leisure, vic- 
tuals, phthisic, hnife, yacht, ycleped, and thousands of 
others whose pronunciation could hardly be guessed 
from a knowledge of their orthography. 

It must be admitted, however, that pupils do learn 
to pronounce in schools where no other method of 
teaching Pronunciation than the Alphabetic is used. 
The proper explanation of this fact is that the 
teacher supposes he is teaching according to one 
method when he is actually teaching according to 
another. The child is not guided to the pronun- 
ciation of a word by naming its letters, as many 
teachers seem to think, but he learns to associate 
the name of the word which the teacher gives him 
with its form, the parts of which he has named. 
Every teacher who has used this method will testify 
that after pupils had named the letters composing a 
word, he had to give them its pronunciation, and 
sometimes to repeat it again and again, before it 
became fixed in their minds. In stating this, it is 
not intended to be denied that naming the letters 
may sometimes aid the pupil in pronouncing. 
16 



1§2 



INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 



The names of letters may do something to suggest 
their power, when practice has made these powers 
partially familiar; and so far as this can be the 
case, some advantage in pronouncing may be de- 
rived from the Alphabetic method. 

2nd. The Phonic Method. — According to the Pho- 
nic method, the teacher first imparts to his pupils a 
knowledge of the sounds of the language. His 
next object is to teach them to combine sounds. 
This he may do by uttering individual sounds, and 
then showing how they can be combined; and after- 
wards requiring his pupils to utter sounds and make 
combinations of them. Such lessons are valuable, 
and children may be taught in this way a correct 
oral pronunciation. 

The point of difficulty with the Phonic method 
is to apply it to written words. As applied in 
teaching the pronunciation of the German language 
(and this method comes to us from Germany), it 
answers a good purpose, because nearly all the Ger- 
man letters have but a single sound, and where this 
is not the case, the power of the letter can gene- 
rally be determined by the notation. The peculia- 
rities of the Orthography of the English language, 
wdth the same characters representing several 
sounds, and the same sounds represented by dif- 
ferent characters, its silent letters, and its double 
consonants, must render the application of the Pho- 
nic method to the teaching of the pronunciation of 
our language a work of much difficulty. Indeed, 
it is scarcely possible to do it to any useful extent, 
without employing the aid of orthographical rules, 



proxun"ciatio:t. 183 

classifications of words, and systems of notation ; 
but with these auxiliaries many teachers esteem it 
the most philosophical and practical of the methods 
now in use. The leading features of the method 
when thus used must be described. Vs^ 

As already stated, the first step in the Phonic 
method is to impart a knowledge of the elementary- 
sounds of the language and the characters by which 
they are represented ; and as there are more than 
twenty-six of these sounds, and some of the letters 
of the Alphabet have several sounds, some system 
of notation must be adoptecL / 

The second step in this method is to teach pupils 
to combine these elementary sounds so as to form 
words. The work of combining sounds may com- 
mence as soon as pupils become acquainted with 
a sufficient number of them to forrn combinations. 

It is evident that these two steps constitute the 
whole work of teaching Pronunciation, but in prac- 
tice many difficulties will be encountered of which 
something must be said. 

It is best to teach first the short sounds of the 
vowels: as a in at^ e in en^ z*in zV, o in ox^ u in ws. 
Next should be taught the sounds of the simple 
consonants : as &, cZ, /, Z, m, n, p, &c. Then come 
words of two letters; as an, at, in, ox, &c. ; or combi- 
nations that form parts of words : as ad, et, in, ol, up, 
&c. ; and afterwards words composed in the same 
way of three or four letters may be given. The 
word-tables composed of such monosyllables as ha, 
ma, le, he, si, no, tu, hla, hie, had, mad, &c., as found 
in our old-fashioned spelling-books, could be made 
very useful as exercises in phonic synthesis. 



184 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

The preceding paragrapli points out what is 
appropriate in lessons for beginners. In advancing 
further, it will be best to choose a spelling-book in 
which words are arranged according to their analo- 
gies in respect to some peculiarity in sound, and 
presented in an order progressing from the easy to 
the difficult. Interest may be added to first lessons 
by introducing words that represent objects and 
actions familiar to children. 

In giving first lessons in Pronunciation according 
to this method, cards, letter-blocks, and blackboards 
may be advantageously used. As an example of 
the mode of teaching such lessons, an exercise upon 
a blackboard will be described. Let the teacher 
draw a letter, say a, upon the blackboard, and re- 
quire the pupils to give its sound ; then t may be 
placed on the right side of it, its sound given, and 
the two sounds combined; and, afterwards, r may 
be placed upon the left side of it, its sound given 
also, and the whole word, rat^ pronounced. Erasing 
r, 5,/, m^ 71, s, OYv may be substituted, and the pupils 
required to pronounce the new combinations. The 
other letters composing the word can be changed in 
a similar way, and other words can be chosen and 
built up or taken apart in a manner, when performed 
by an ingenious teacher, that never fails to engage 
the attention of pupils. At times, it may be well 
for pupils to point out or draw in their order the 
characters which represent particular sounds, uttered 
by the teacher, and then combine them into words; 
or the combinations may be made without the 
characters. As soon as pupils are made thoroughly 
acquainted with the elementarv sounds of the Ian- 



PRONUNCIATION. 185 

guage, and the characters used to represent them, 
and have attained some facility in combining them 
into syllables and monosyllabic words by practicing 
a series of exercises designed to accomplish that 
end, they may take up the more formal lessons of a 
well-arranged spelling-book. In such a book the 
words are carefully classed according to their analo- 
gies of sound, and the character or combination of 
characters which is used to represent the sound, 
common to the whole, is placed prominently at the 
head of the lesson, and serves as a key to the pro- 
nunciation. For example «, as in fate, might be the 
key, and then the lesson would contain such words 
as aid, gay, they, veil, break, guage, ^c. ; or the sound 
of sli in ship, might be made to indicate the pro- 
nunciation of a large class of words in which that 
sound is represented by ti, si, ci, ch, s, ce, se, and sch. 

After pupils have learned the pronunciation of 
the words of a lesson by making a synthesis of their 
elementary sounds, they must have much practice 
in naming words without uttering the individual 
sounds of which they are composed. The division 
of words of more than one syllable into syllables 
is proper for children in their first efforts to pro- 
nounce ; but the same words should be immediately 
pronounced without such division. A Spelling- 
Book, arranged in conformity with the method of 
teaching Pronunciation now indicated, should con- 
tain many miscellaneous exercises, in w^hich all 
classification and all notation should be discarded. 

From what has been said, it is evident that the 
Phonic method of teaching Pronunciation is more 
philosophical than the Alphabetic method. It pre- 

IG* 



186 INSTllUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

sents the subject in a series of well-graded exer- 
cises. It is consistent with itself, systematic, and 
logical. There are, however, some objections to it 
"which must be noticed. 

It is objected that the classes of words required 
by this method, if made according to their analogous 
sounds, would be so numerous that few children 
could remember them. Besides, if all the words 
belonging to a particular class were to be always 
arranged in a single lesson, it would bring together 
both easy and difficult words in a manner that could 
not fail to perplex the learner. The authors of 
Spelling-Books, it would seem, might easily obviate 
this objection. 

It is objected further that pupils taught to rely 
upon analogy of sounds or a sj^stem of notation 
for the pronunciation of words, would find them- 
selves greatly perplexed in dispensing with these 
helps when it became necessary in general reading. 
The miscellaneous exercises in pronouncing referred 
to on a preceding page would remove this objection. 

It is objected finally that there are many words 
in the English language that do not admit of classi- 
fication with other words in any way that would be 
useful to a learner, and whose Orthography is so 
peculiar that a synthesis of their elementary sounds 
would scarcely aid him in remembering their Pro- 
nunciation. This is the most serious objection that 
can be brought against the Phonic method of teach- 
ing Pronunciation, and I see no way of answering 
it. It would seem that the Pronunciation of such 
words can be best learned by a difierent method. 



proxunciatio:n-. 187 

3d. The Phonetic Method. — It is generally agreed 
tliat there are over forty elementary sounds in the 
English language. Our Alphabet contains but 
twenty-six letters. The advocates of the Phonetic 
method of teaching Pronunciation generally use 
the letters of our present Alphabet, each to repre- 
sent one sound, and invent others as signs for the 
sounds unrepresented. 

The first step in the application of this method 
is to teach the elementary sounds and the characters 
which have been agreed upon to represent them. 

The second step is to teach pupils to combine 
sounds wdien uttered by the teacher or suggested 
by their appropriate symbols. These combinations 
consist at first of two sounds, then of three, and 
thus on, until the}^ include all of those found in the 
longest words. Spelling-books and spelling-cards 
suited to this method have been prepared and can 
be used as in the other methods. The same advan- 
tage, too, may be derived from the use of black- 
boards and letter-blocks. 

The third step consists in having pupils make 
the transition from the pronunciation of words 
spelled phonetically to those spelled in the common 
way. This transition may be made by placing the 
same words spelled in both ways in parallel columns 
or in alternate lines. There is so strong a resem- 
blance or so o^reat a contrast between the two modes 
of spelling that ^Dupils do not find much difiiculty, 
it is claimed, in passing from the phonetic word- 
symbols to the common word-symbols. 

It is but just to say that experiments have been 
made, and apparently with fairness, designed to 



188 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

test the relative advantages of the Phonetic and other 
methods of teaching Pronunciation ; and results 
have been reported decidedly favorable to the former. 

Upon the other hand, other experiments have failed 
to yield the same results and some very strong objec- 
tions have been urged against the Phonetic method. 

It is alleged that a pupil taught to pronounce 
upon the principle that every letter is sounded and 
that every sound is represented by a single character, 
w^ould be completely bewildered in attempting to 
dispose of the silent letters, and the numerous char- 
acters used to represent the same sound, and nu- 
merous sounds represented by the same characters, 
which are incident to our English Orthography. 
In consequence, it is denied that the transition from 
the pronunciation of words spelled Phonetically to 
the pronunciation of those spelled in the ordinary 
manner can be easily made, or made at all without a 
departure from the principle of the Phonetic method. 

It is maintained, too, that pupils taught according 
to the Phonetic method, will experience great diffi- 
culty in learning to spell. Practicing phonic ana- 
lysis exclusively, they would be apt to make the 
number of letters in a word equal to the number 
of its elementary sounds, and this would tend to 
introduce errors into their Orthography. 

2. The Associative Method. — According to the 
Associative Method, Pronunciation is learned by 
associating the names of words, with their forms. 
'No conscious synthesis of the names of letters or of 
sounds represented by them is made, but the pupil 
is taught at once the written signs for oral words. 



PRONUNCIATION^. 189 

Children can be tanglit to i^ronoiince by this 
method. Oral language exists. Children can talk. 
They use words. "Written language was designed 
to be the medium of communication between the 
ear and th£_ eye — to convert the products of the 
forroer sense into forms recognizable by the latter. 
It is a matter of history that various forms of writing 
have prevailed at different periods, and it is well 
known that in Stenography and Telegraphing the 
common w^ord-signs are not used. Besides, it is 
plain that any arbitrary symbol may be agreed upon 
to represent a word, and by familiar association be 
made to suggest it. It is upon this principle that 
the Associative Method of teaching Pronunciation 
is based, and it has no reference to the component 
letters, or the component sounds of words. 

Since the association between the names of words 
and their forms is arbitrary, the irregularities of the 
Orthography of the English language present no 
difficulties in the way of acquiring its pronunciation 
that would not be presented in a language strictly 
phonetic. 

Teaching, according to this method, will be suc- 
cessfal in proportion as it succeeds in making a 
lasting association between the names of words and 
their forms. Much skill will be required on the 
part of the teacher to attain this end. 

It is best to select for first lessons words which 
stand for things in which children are most inter- 
ested, as hoy^ girl, dog, cat, whip, tree, &c. These may 
be given first in connection with pictures, but after- 
wards without the pictures. 

The second class of lessons should contain such 
words as of, in, a, to, an, the, and, is, are, has, have, &c. 



190 INSTKUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

The third class of lessons may embody the same 
words in short sentences. These should be so con- 
structed as to interest children. 

In all these lessons, books and cards suitably 
prepared, letter-blocks, and blackboards may be 
advantageously used. The forms of words must be 
impressed upon the pupils' memories by describing 
and analyzing them, talking about the objects they 
represent, and making their names familiar by 
frequent repetition. 

The lessons which succeed these, containing more 
difficult words, should be arranged upon the same 
principle, and instruction given in them in the 
same manner. Each lesson should consist of a 
proper number of words, and when the pupil is 
familiar with their pronunciation individually pre- 
sented, he can be taught to pronounce them in 
sentences intermixed with words learned in pre- 
ceding lessons. 

In estimating the value of this method, it must be 
admitted that no one can pronounce words with 
facility who has not formed a familiar association 
between their names and their forms. The attempt 
to do this directly, in the manner proposed by the 
Associative Method encounters some difficulties. 

It would be a task of great difficulty to acquaint 
pupils with the immense vocabulary of the English 
language without the aid of phonic synthesis or the 
analogies of the language. It would be subject to 
the same objections as the Verbal System of writing 
practiced by the Ancients, or the clumsy word-signs 
of the Chinese. 

It would also involve the additional labor upon 



PRONUNCIATION. 191 

the teacher of pronouncing every word for the 
pupil. In strict accordance with the method, the 
pupil could not aid himself in pronouncing by 
naming letters, giving sounds, seeking out analo- 
gies, or searching Dictionaries. 

Sufficient has been said of each of the methods 
of teaching Pronunciation when applied indepen- 
dently. It has been seen that difficulties lie in the 
path of all of them, and it remains to be ascertained 
whether some of these may not be removed by a 
judicious union of methods. The method thus 
formed may be called the Eclectic 3IetJiod. Some 
repetition may be necessary in describing it. 

A word is the simplest subdivision of discourse. 
A child uses words when he begins to talk, not 
sentences on the one hand, or letters or elementary 
sounds on the other. It is most natural, in learning 
written language, that the pupil should also com- 
mence with words — that he should translate words 
he can understand by sound into words he can 
understand by sight. So far as the first lessons in 
Pronunciation are concerned, then, I would follow 
the Associative Method. It may be followed to the 
extent of teaching pupils to read short sentences. 

As soon as pupils are able to pronounce a certain 
number of words at sight, or while they are learn- 
ing to do it, they should be required to analyze them 
into their component letters and sounds, and, after- 
wards, be instructed as to the manner in which ele- 
mentary sounds are combined to form words, and as 
to the fact that letters are used to represent sounds, 
and that their names and their sounds are different. 



192 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

All this should be abundantly illustrated. As some 
of the letters of the Alphabet have several sounds, 
it will be necessary to adopt a system of notation. 

From this point on through the Spelling-Book, I 
would adopt the arrangement of words and exercises 
previously described as appropriate to the Phonic 
method ; but I would not adhere to that method in 
conducting the recitations. I would conduct recita- 
tions in the following manner, which, I think, enables 
pupils to profit by what is good in all methods. 
First, let the teacher pronounce the words and the 
pupils imitate him. Second, let the pupils name 
the elementary sounds in a word, and then pro- 
nounce it. Third, let the pupils name the letters 
composing a word, and then pronounce it. Fourth, 
let the pupils pronounce the word without giving 
the elementary sounds or naming the letters. Of 
course, the words should be disposed of in this way 
one at a time.- The first step enables the pupil to 
obtain a correct pronunciation of a word, and to ini- 
tiate an association between its name and its form. 
The second is an exercise in phonic synthesis. The 
third is an application of the Alphabetic method 
and has advantages in itself, and in the preparation 
for learning to spell which it afi:brds. The fourth is 
the consummation of the end aimed at — the pronun- 
ciation of a word at sight. Thus, as I conceive, the 
strong points of one method may be made to supply 
the weak points of another, and each deriving help 
from the others, an Eclectic method can be formed 
that is at once philosophical and practical. 

Pupils must not only be taught to pronounce 
words, but they ought to be taught to pronounce 



I 



PRONUNCIATION. 193 

tliem correctly; and it is requisite that something 
be said in this connection regarding the method of 
attaining this desirable end. Contrary to the com- 
mon practice, great care should be taken to have 
the pupil acquire a correct pronunciation to the 
greatest extent possible, before he begins to read — 
pronouncing words in sentences is not reading. 

In teaching pupils to pronounce correctly, two 
things must be attended to : first. Enunciation ; 
second, Acceyit. Enunciation relates to the manner 
of uttering sounds. Accent is stress of voice placed 
upon particular syllables in words. 

Certain impediments frequently lie in the way of 
pupils' acquiring a good Enunciation. Among them 
are imperfect vocal organs, timidity, and bad habits. 

"When pupils are unable to utter certain sounds 
on account of imperfect vocal organs, the teacher 
may, in some cases aid in removing the difficulty by 
training them to speak with due deliberation, with 
an expiring breath, and with the mouth open, so as 
to allow the weak organs freedom of movement ; 
but a want of time in school will generally prevent 
that prolonged application of remedies deemed 
essential to effect a cure. Lisping, stammering, 
stuttering, and like vocal defects, can often be cured; 
but special schools are wanted to apply property the 
means. If the teacher find the impediment to arise 
from inability to utter a certa^in sound, he can often 
remove it by securing practice upon the most nearly 
related sounds. He can do something, too, by show- 
ing the position of the organs in uttering the sounds 
with which difficulty is experienced. He can always 
do much by patiently giving general vocal culture. 

17 



194 INSTEUCTIOK IN LANGUAGE. 

If pupils mispronounce words in consequence of 
their timidity, the teacher must endeavor to gain 
their confidence by speaking words of encourage- 
ment and showing an interest in their work. He 
must also lead them step by step to have confi- 
dence in themselves. 

Bad habits are the most common source of mis- 
pronunciations. Children listen to words incorrectly 
pronounced, and, of course, imitate what they hear. 
The spoken language of few neighborhoods is free 
from errors; and that of many is full of them. 
Children learn to utter certain vocal elements 
erroneously, to omit them when they o,ught not to 
be omitted, and to use them when they ought not 
to be used. These bad habits can only be corrected 
by long and patient training in phonic analysis and 
phonic synthesis. Pupils must be made familiar 
with all the elementary sounds of the language. 
They must be taught to make words by combining 
sounds, and to distinguish the simple sounds con- 
tained in w^ords. They should be allowed much 
practice upon combinations of sounds of difiicult 
utterance, and words and classes of words which 
they are liable to mispronounce. Great difiiculty 
will be experienced with the vocal sounds in unac- 
cented syllables, but the teacher must make his 
practice conform to the best authorities he can find 
upon the subject. Beo-inners may derive advantage 
from a division of words into syllables. 

All words in the English language of more than 
one syllable have one- accented syllable. Pollysylla- 
bic words have generally both a primary and a secon- 
dary accent. The placing of the accent is an impor- 



OKTHOGRAPHY. 195 

tant matter in pronouncing words, and teachers 
should carefully train their pupils to do it properly. 
Their own pronunciation should be a correct model 
for imitation. Patient attention must be paid to the 
accentuation of words new to pupils, and frequent 
repetition is necessary to break up habits of mispro- 
nouncing words with respect to which they hayebeen 
accustomed to place the accent upon the wrong 
syllable. Much adyantage may be had from the 
practice of haying pupils write on slates or black- 
boards columns of words, and then mark the ac- 
cented syllables. Lessons of the same kind may be 
made with the words as arranged in Spelling-Books. 
As soon as pupils can use a Dictionary, they should 
haye access to one. It will only be added that more 
attention to the principles of Orthoepy in Primary 
schools would saye much labor in higher schools and 
many foolish blunders in society. 

Orthography. 

Spelling consists in expressing the characters 
composing words upon hearing or conceiying those 
words. In pronouncing, the forms of letters are 
presented to the eye, or their names or sounds to 
the ear, and the pupils are expected to name the 
words thus constituted. Spelling is this process 
reyersed. More concisely, it may be said that in 
pronouncing, we haye giyen letters or letter-sounds 
to find words ; and in spelling, we haye giyen words 
to find letters or letter-sounds. Pronunciation is 
essentially a synthetic process; but Spelling is an 
analytic process. Logically, Pronunciation must 
precede Spelling in a course of study, because 



196 II>rSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

cTiildren must be acquainted with words as wholes 
before they can reproduce their component parts. 
Practically, however, it may be convenient to in- 
clude exercises in both in the same lesson. 

"Words may be analyzed in two ways ; and conse- 
quently there are two methods of teaching Orthog- 
raphy. The first method consists in resolving the 
words into their elementary sounds, and in express- 
ing the characters which represent these sounds. 
This method is founded upon an analysis of sound, 
and depends upon the sense of hearing. It may be 
called the Auricular method. 

The second method consists in resolving words 
into their several parts, and in expressing these 
parts. This method is founded upon an analj^sis of 
form, and depends upon the sense of seeing. It 
may be called the Ocular method 

Both methods are dependant upon the memory. 

1. The Auricular Method. — If the English was 
strictly a phonetic language, the Auricular method 
of teaching spelling would have advantages over any 
other method. In that case, spelling would consist 
in the analysis of words into the simple sounds 
which compose them, and the representation of 
these sounds by their appropriate characters. Chil- 
dren could be readily taught to do this, and thus 
escape the heavy task of memorizing spelling-lessons. 
The English language, however, does not conform 
its Orthography to the Phonetic principle. Many 
of the letters composing words are silent. Many 
letters represent more than one sound, and many 
sounds are represented by more than one letter. 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 197 

Even with words of the simplest Orthography, an 
analysis of their sound never gives the names of the 
letters. 

Orthography is the reverse of Pronunciation. The 
Auricular method of teaching Orthography is the 
reverse of the Synthetic method of teaching Pro- 
nunciation, and might he divided into the same 
number of special methods. As letters can be 
named and the Pronunciation of words suggested 
by them, so the names of words may suggest their 
component letters. As elementary linguistic sounds 
can be combined to form words ; so words can be 
analyzed into their simplest sounds. As a classifi- 
cation of words according to their analogies aids in 
learning Pronunciation working forwards, so may 
such a classification be made to aid in the work of 
learning Orthography working backwards. As 
separate characters may be used to represent all the 
elements employed in phonic synthesis, so may 
they be used to represent the results of phonic 
analysis. Thus methods of teaching Orthography 
might be arranged to correspond to the Alpha- 
betical, the Phonic, and the Phonetic methods of 
teaching Pronunciation. This detail is deemed 
unnecessary here, however, since whatever merits 
or demerits these methods have with respect to 
Pronunciation they must have with respect to 
Orthography. 

2. The Ocular Method. — We spell more by form 
than by sound. We are more apt to remember 
letters as parts of whole words, than we are to 
remember them as characters representing sounds. 



198 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

We use the sense of seeing in spelling more than 
that of hearing. In proof of this position, it might 
be stated that most persons are accustomed to write 
words with respect to the Orthography of which 
they are in doubt, or to conceive their form, thus 
judging whether words are spelled correctly by 
their looks. 

Proof-readers, whom I have consulted, allege 
that they seldoto consider what elementary sounds 
compose words, and then what characters represent 
them ; but they think of words as pictures which 
are marred by bad spelling. 

It is the general experience, too, that the blind 
spell with more difficulty than the deaf. 

The Ocular method of teaching Orthography is 
founded upon the same principle as the Associative 
method of teaching Pronunciation, and corresponds 
to it. By this method, the problem of Pronuncia- 
tion is : given the form of a word to determine its 
name ; and that of Orthography is : given the name 
of a word to find its form. Pronunciation is the 
translation of eye-language into ear-language, and 
Orthography is the translation of ear-language into 
eye-language. It need scarcely be added that the 
advantages and disadvantages of teaching Pronun- 
ciation by the Associative method belong equally to 
the Ocular method of teaching Orthography. 

In the preceding Article it was stated that the 
difterent methods of teaching Pronunciation might 
be combined, and that an Eclectic method might be 
formed that would avoid many of the objections 
which could be made to each of these methods when 
used by itself, and embrace the certain advantages 



OETHOGRAPHY. 199 

derived from all of tliem. The same may be said 
in reference to methods of teaching Orthography. 
Pronunciation and Orthom-aphv should be tans-ht 
together, and both require the same arrangement 
of subject-matter; and as this arrangement has 
already been indicated, a repetition is now un- 
called for. 

As the most important thing to be attended to in 
teaching Orthography is to impress the form of 
Avords upon the memory of pupils, some suggestions 
may. be made with reference to this end. The cor- 
rect forms of words may be impressed upon the 
memory of a child by selecting words that he under- 
stands, and that represent something in which he is 
interested. It may be done by calling attention to 
the peculiar forms of words, their analogies, and by 
requiring pupils to draw or write their spelling- 
lessons before reciting them. If pupils be taught to 
spell immediately the same words that have fur- 
nished their pronouncing or reading lesson, it will 
be found to be of great advantage. One exercise 
may contain words correctly spelled with which 
pupils may be made familiar, and then pass on to 
another in which the same words are used with 
letters omitted, added, or misplaced, that they are 
required to correct. AV"ords of like Pronunciation 
but unlike Orthography can be most easilj' spelled 
when their meaning is known and contrasted. 
Pupils should be made familiar with the various 
methods of spelling words of doubtful Orthography, 
and for this purpose lists of such words should be 
frequently spelled. There are a few Orthographical 
rules, such as those with respect to changing y into i, 



200 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. . 

and doubling the final consonant, a knowledge of 
which may be profitable to pupils. Each rule should 
be fixed in the mind by numerous examples. 

After this statement of principles, it is deemed 
proper that a -more detailed description should be 
given of methods of conducting recitations in Or- 
thography. 

1st. Spelling Exercises for Beginners. — Much atten- 
tion should be paid to Orthography in our Primary 
schools. Those who do not learn to spell well when 
young, seldom acquire the ability to do so. Each 
lesson should be pronounced and then spelled. 
Pupils may repeat the names of words uttered by 
the teacher and associate them w^ith their proper 
word-signs. They may name the letters or sounds 
composing words and again pronounce them. They 
may pronounce the words, and then give the letters 
or sounds. They may pronounce the words with- 
out giving either the letters or sounds. Finally, 
they should spell the words both by giving the 
names of the letters and the elementary sounds of 
the words. Each of these exercises will aid the 
others, and all ought to be embraced in the same 
lesson. The words contained in every primary read- 
ing lesson should be spelled, and the words used 
in a spelling lesson should be embraced in sentences 
and read. 

A Peading-Frame with block-letters can be used 
very advantageously in teaching young children to 
spell. Words made of these letters can be imitated, 
taken apart, and put together in a manner well 
calculated to impress their forms upon the pupil's 



OETHOGEAPHY. 201 

memory. The handling of tlie letters tends to fix 
the attention upon their relative locations in words. 
Before children can write, they may draw or print 
words upon their slates or upon the blackboard. 
They can copy in this way their reading and pro- 
nouncing lessons. 

2d. An oral Exercise in Spelling. — The common 
mode of managing an exercise in oral Spelling is to 
require pupils to prepare several columns of words 
from a Spelling-Book. A class is then formed, and 
the words are given out to each pupil, commencing 
at the head of the class and proceeding toward the 
foot. If a pupil misspell his word, the next below 
him may spell it and take his place ; if two misspell 
a word, a third may try it, and so on to the end, un- 
less some one spell it correctly. 

It may be objected to this method that, by collu- 
sion among one another, each pupil knowing the 
order in which the words will be given out, may 
prepare only those words which he calculates will 
be assigned to him. This objection, however, can 
be easily obviated by the teacher's changing the 
order of assigning the words. 

It is also objected to this method that, while 
pupils are spelling at one end of the class, they may 
be inattentive at the other end. This result does 
not occur unfrequently, but it may be prevented 
by the teacher's assigning words miscellaneously. 
If it be desirable to retain positions of honor and 
dishonor in the class, at the end of a recitation, 
those who have misspelled the fewest words can 
pass to the head of the class ; those who have mis- 



202 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

spelled the next to the fewest words can occupy the 
next place, and thus on until all are located, such 
as misspelled the same number of words retaining 
the same relative position as when the recitation 
began. This changing of position need occupy but 
a moment, and necessitates no confusion. Each 
pupil can be readily accustomed to recollect the 
number of words he misspelled, and honestly to 
report it, or some one can be appointed to keep the 
account. 

A more serious objection to the method of oral 
spelling is that by this mode of reciting each pupil 
can receive but a small portion of the words of the 
lesson, and the teacher does not know w^hether the 
whole lesson has been prepared or otherwise. In 
other studies the teacher may nearly always judge 
how well a pupil knows the whole lesson by the 
manner in which he recites a part of it, but this is 
obviously not the case with Orthography. Though 
this is a strong objection to oral spelling, yet the 
practice of it ought not to be wholly discarded. It 
sometimes happens that pupils cannot write, and 
sometimes it is inconvenient for them to do so ; 
and if neither w^as the case, variety of method in 
reciting gives zest to study. Now and then, indeed, 
I do not think it out of place for the teacher to 
indulge his pupils in an old-fashioned spelling- 
match. The interest they will take in preparing for 
the contest will acquaint them with the Orthography 
of many words. 

3d. Method of using Slates in a Spelling Recitation, — 
Those who spell well orally do not always write words 



OKTHOGEAPHY. - 203 

correctly. Every teacher has witnessed and won- 
dered at this fact. It may he that, in oral spelling, 
we rely more upon the sense of hearing than upon 
that of seeing, and that in written spelling the 
reverse is true. Whatever may be the cause, the 
fact is as stated, and hence the necessity that pupils 
should have ample practice in spelling words by 
writing them. This exercise may be conducted by 
using slates. The pupils having made the necessary 
preparation by looking closely at the words of the les- 
son, writing them, and naming the letters composing 
them, are supposed to be conveniently seated, each 
with a slate and pencil. The teacher now pronounces 
the words of the lesson, or such of them as he may 
select, and all the pupils write them. When the 
words have all been written, the teacher must ascer- 
tain how many of them have been spelled correctly. 
For this purpose, I have found the best plan to be 
for the teacher to spell the words in the order he 
gave them out, and require each pupil to mark such 
of them as he may have misspelled. Pupils may, 
however, spell the words by turns, or as called upon, 
and correct one another, marking misspelled words 
as before. How to dispose of the misspelled words 
is an interesting question. It would be a great mis- 
take merely to have them marked, and then allow 
them to pass without further notice. It is an excel- 
lect plan to require each pupil to write upon paper 
lists of all the Avords he misspelled, and then to 
make special preparation to spell them at certain 
fixed times, once a week, or more frequently, in a 
review lesson. At such a recitation, all the lists 
must be handed to the teacher, and he can assign 



204 INSTRUCTION- IN LANGUAGE. 

the words in the usual manner ; and as each pupil 
has only the words misspelled by himself to pre- 
pare, it can justly be expected that no mistakes 
will be made. 

In addition to the attainment of the ability to 
write words correctly, some of the advantages of 
this method are that each pupil has the opportunity 
of spelling all the words of the lesson, all the mem- 
bers of the class are constantly employed during the 
recitation, no one who does not know his lesson can 
escape detection, and misspelled words can be re- 
studied and recited a second time. 

4th. Method of using the Blackboard in a Spelling 
Recitation. — In order to conduct a spelling recitation 
upon a blackboard, there must be sufficient surface 
to allow to each, pupil the requisite amount of space 
upon which to write his lesson. When ready to 
recite, each pupil takes his place in front of the space 
upon which his lesson is intended to be written ; 
and with a piece of crayon in one hand and a suita- 
ble rubber in the other, prepares himself to write. 
The lesson is then given out, written, corrected, and 
reviewed, as when slates are used. Instead of each 
pupil's correcting his own work, all may change 
places, and each correct the work of another. Slates 
can be exchanged in the same manner ; but in both 
cases, there is always some loss of time, and there 
may be ill feeling. 

I prefer slates to the blackboard in conducting a 
spelling lesson, for the reason that while the general 
advantages are the same, pupils cannot so readily 
copy from a blackboard their misspelled words after 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 205 

the recitation, and during the recitation there is a 
strong temptation to watch each other's work and 
profit hy it. This latter objection can be partially 
removed by dividing the whole class into two sub- 
classes, placing the members of each alternately, 
and giving out the words of the lesson to each sub- 
class in a difi'erent order ; but this arrangement is 
itself not free from objections. 

5th. False Orthography as an Exercise in Spelling. — 
Proof-readers become very expert spellers. They 
detect instantly by its look every misspelled word. 
An exercise something like proof-reading might be 
profitably introduced into our schools. Pupils could 
be made to notice carefully the correct spelling of 
certain collections of words, and afterwards these 
words might be embraced in miscellaneous exercises 
systematically misspelled. Peading lessons might 
be followed by exercises in False Orthography, or 
misspelled words might be introduced into sen- 
tences and the pupils be engaged in correcting them. 
Examples of False Orthography might be placed 
under each of the Orthographical rules, and pupils 
could thus become familiar with the rules in apply- 
ing them. A book containing matter suitably 
arranged can easily be conceived. In preparing 
such lessons, pupils ought to have loose slips of 
paper upon which they could make their corrections 
for the teacher's inspection. 

6th. Dictation Exercises. — All exercises that require 
pupils to write words when given out by the teacher 
may be called Dictation Exercises; but by such 

18 



206 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

exercises in tliis connection are meant sentences, 
paragraphs, or short pieces of composition read by 
the teacher and written by the pupils. The mean- 
ing of words contained in sentences is more readily 
discerned than when they are arranged in col- 
umns, and consequently children take more inter- 
est in spelling them. Besides, the spelling of sen- 
tences seems to them to be working to more pur- 
pose than spelling the words of dry spelling-book 
columns. 

Dictation exercises should be first written upon 
slates, but when they have been corrected they may 
be transferred to paper. The manner of correcting 
the exercises may be the same as in the ordinary 
spelling upon slates. With advanced classes, the 
teacher will do well to make such selections for 
dictation as are worth preserving on account of 
their literary merit ; and something may be done in 
this way to cultivate the taste even of beginners. 

It is considered proper to append a few additional 
suggestions. They have a general application. 

Some attention should be paid to Orthography in 
all branches. It is not amiss to ask pupils to spell 
the new words with which they meet in Arithmetic, 
Geograjjhy, Grammar, or any higher study. Espe- 
cially is it proper that pupils be required to spell 
the new words which occur in their reading lessons. 
I have noticed pupils increase their skillin spelling 
English words by practice in spelling the words of 
other languages. 

A wonderful degree of interest can be created 
among children by giving them lessons in which 
they are required to spell common things, such as 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 207 

the things about the school-room, articles of furni- 
ture, articles of wearing apparel, kinds of food, 
things bought at stores, things taken to market, 
names of trees, flowers, vessels, vehicles, men, 
women, &c., &c. 

In giving out a spelling lesson or dictation exer- 
cise, the teacher should always pronounce the words 
correctly, and in a clear, audible voice. 

The teacher should never mispronounce a word in 
order to aid the pupil in spelling it. 

A word or sentence should be repeated but once, 
and in oral spelling but one trial should be allowed 
the pupil. In written spelling, since the pupil 
cannot know immediately whether his work is cor- 
rect or not, he will not often desire to change what 
he first writes. 

It is well for pupils to pronounce the words in 
oral spelling after the teacher has done so, and 
before spelling them ; and also to give the pronun- 
ciation of each syllable as spelled by itself, and in 
combination with the preceding syllable or syllables, 
if there are such. 

What has been said on the subject of methods of 
teaching Orthography has reference only to ac- 
quiring skill in spelling words as authorized by 
good authorities. There are Etymological and other 
reasons why words are spelled as we. see them. 
Orthographical peculiarities have not been produced 
by mere chance or caprice. They are often the 
result of linguistic laws, which can be investigated. 
"When pupils have made that degree of advancement 
necessary to prosecute these philosophical inquiries, 



208 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

teachers will find any effort they may make to 
encourage them amply repaid. In no department 
of science can there be opened a richer field than 
that which embraces the origin, nature, and changes 
of written language. While we are careful to inves- 
tigate the Orthographic laws relating to foreign lan- 
guages, let us not forget what is due from us to our 
Mother-Tongue. 

Reading. 

Reading, as a branch of instruction, is the art of 
giving proper oral expression to written or printed 
composition. Taken in this sense, the words Read- 
ing and Elocution are synonymous, although the 
latter term is generally applied to the higher depart- 
ments of Reading. Skill in Reading may be desired 
for the purpose of understanding written or printed 
language, and Avithout any intention of reading for 
the benefit of others ; but it is evident that a teacher 
can only judge of such skill by an oral exhibition 
of it. What is said of Reading in the following dis- 
cussion will apply almost equally well to Declama- 
tion and the different forms of Public Speaking. 

Methods of teaching Reading are readily divis- 
ible into three classes : first, those which relate to 
Reading as a Vocal Art; second, those which relate 
to Reading as a Mental Operation; third, those which 
relate to Delivery. 

1. Method of teaching Reading as a Yocal Art. 
— In readino: we use the vocal oro;ans as instru- 
ments ; and, if these instruments are defective, it 
will be impossible to acquire the ability to read 



READING. 209 

well. As well might it be expected that a musician 
could make good music upon an instrument broken 
or out of tune, as to expect a person to read well 
with an uncultivated voice. Good reading depends 
as much upon the voice as good singing ; and yet 
the systematic culture of the voice for purposes of 
reading is little attended to in educational institu- 
tions, and that is one great cause why there are so 
few good readers. The human voice is a wonderful 
instrument, and greatly susceptible of culture. I^o 
one can doubt who has heard a great vocalist sing, 
or seen a great actor play, that much of our singing, 
speaking, and reading might be better done. The 
Creator evidently intended that the voice should 
express all kinds of truth and all forms of sentiment 
that can oris^inate in the soul. 

Yocal culture in reading may either relate to the 
simple utterance of linguistic sounds, as they occur 
in words ; or to the utterance of such sounds with 
respect to their Elocutionary qualities. The first 
division has already been called Pronunciation ; the 
second may* be called Modulation. 

As methods of teaching Pronunciation were 
treated of in a preceding Article, it seems only 
necessary to say here that no one can read well who 
is unable to pronounce correctly and fluently. Ex- 
ercises upon the Enunciation of sounds and the 
Pronunciation of w^ords may, therefore, appropri- 
ately introduce a lesson in Eeading. These exer- 
cises should be based upon the reading-lesson, and 
adapted in kind and extent to the acquirements of 
the class. Pupils just beginning to read should be 
taught to pronounce the vrords of the lesson before 
18^ 



210 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

reading it, either as arranged in sentences (in which 
case they should he named in a reversed order from 
that in which they are read), or as arranged in 
columns. Some of the worst hahits of had reading 
arise from permitting children to attempt to read a 
lesson before they can pronounce the words con- 
tained in it. Even those counted good readers 
sometimes spoil the delivery of a sentence by a 
failure to articulate correctly a sound or a combina- 
tion of sounds, or by the inability to pronounce 
readily a word or a succession of words. 

Modulation, in the sense here used, includes the 
Quantity^ Compass^ Movement, and Quality of the 
voice. 

Quantity. — By Quantity, in an Elocutionary sense, 
is meant the volume of voice that can be used — the 
power with which sounds can be uttered. Force, 
Emphasis, Slur, Stress, and Accent all relate to 
Quantity of voice. Force is the volume of voice 
applied in reading. Emphasis is the manner of 
applying more Force to certain wo^^ls in a sen- 
tence, or sentences in a paragraph, than to others 
with which they are connected. Less Force, thus 
applied, produces the Slur. Stress is the manner 
of applying Force in uttering single sounds, sylla- 
bles, or monosyllabic words. Accent is the greater 
Force with which certain syllables in pollysyllabic 
words are uttered than others in the same words. 

Quantity of voice depends upon the power of the 
lungs, and a good reader must be able to control 
this power so as to utter loud or soft sounds at plea- 
sure. A feeble voice may arise from general ill- 



READING. 211 

healtli, or from weak lungs, or from a want of 
exercise of the pulmonary organs. It is the teacher's 
special duty to supply the want of exercise to these 
organs ; but as the general culture of the voice can 
onl}^ he attained by particular applications of vocal 
power, the methods of doing so will be detailed in 
speaking of Force. 

Some sentiments require to be given with a low, 
soft voice ; and others with a voice loud and strong. 
Hence the necessity for vocal training in respect to 
Force. A reader should always make himself dis- 
tinctly heard by those who listen to him ; but weak 
voices, bad habits, timidity, and affectation stand in 
the way of securing this end in our schools. I^ot 
unfrequently, classes composed of girls read in a 
tone so soft as scarcely to be audible. It is not un- 
common at Young Ladies' Seminaries for the pupils 
to undertake to entertain an audience by reading 
compositions of which scarcely a word can be heard ; 
and the listeners are compelled to be content, if 
they can notice a slight motion of the reader's lips, 
and, now and then, a change of position. Strength 
can be given to the voice by judicious breathing 
exercises, and by oft-repeated lessons in uttering 
letters, letter-sounds, syllables, words, and sentences, 
with different degrees of loudness. The teacher 
should illustrate these lessons, by first making the 
sounds himself, and afterwards aid his pupils by 
accompanying them with his voice in their efforts 
to imitate him. I have succeeded best in this kind 
of training by using sentences selected in reference 
to the degree of Force in utterance required by the 
sentiment. It is an easy matter for a teacher to 



212 INSTRUCTION- IN LANGUAGE. 

collect a great variety of sucli sentences. It is an 
advantage to place reading classes at some distance 
from the teacher, and to classify the voices of those 
who read in the same class and hear them in sec- 
tions. Special care must he taken with those whose 
voices are naturally weak, and kind encouragement 
must inspire the timid with confidence. It is an easy 
matter to train children to read with sufficient Force. 
Nothing will please them better than exercises in 
"loud reading." It is not so easy to succeed with 
older pupils, but the methods proposed will be found 
the most effectual. Loud reading, must not be 
suffered to become a habit or the voice will be 
rendered incapable of uttering sounds with that 
variety of Force wdiich the expression of different 
kinds of sentiment requires. 

The masters of English speaking and English 
reading make very great use of Emphasis. In no 
other language, probably, is its use so common or 
so effective. Without it, not only would the sense 
of discourse be frequently ambiguous, but reading 
would be extremely monotonous. No better test 
of good reading can be found than a skilful use of 
Emphasis. Teachers should, therefore, train the 
vocal organs of their pupils so that they could apply 
Emphasis whenever and in whatever degree the 
sense requires it. Drill exercises in Emphasis might 
consist in uttering the sound of some letter or word 
a number of times with the same degree of Force ; 
and, at certain intervals, or at a given signal, in- 
creasing the Force. In pronouncing a series of let- 
ters, figures, or words, some of them might be desig- 
nated to receive Emphasis. Practice may be had 



READING. 213 

with sentences in which the emphatic words are 
indicated to the eye. These may be either selected 
from a book, or written on the blackboard. It is 
in favor of such training that, while pupils are 
receiving this kind of vocal culture, they can, at the 
same time, learn the use of Emphasis, and the dif- 
ferent methods of giving it. The Slur, in an Elo- 
cutionary sense, is directly opposed to Emphasis. 
If some sentences and parts of sentences are uttered 
with much Force, it necessitates the utterance of 
others with little Force. "When a sentence or a 
part of a sentence is read more rapidly and less for- 
cibly than others, it is said to be slurred. Examples 
of the Slur may be shown by reading parenthetical 
clauses, or side remarks in dialogues. The drill exer- 
cises are necessarily similar to those for Emphasis. 

Emphasis and Slur have reference to the com- 
parative Force with which sentences and parts of 
sentences are uttered ; but if close observation be 
made, it will be found that the Force used in the 
utterance of single sounds is not equally distributed 
throughout the vocal movement. This modifica- 
tion of Force is called Stress. All the difierent 
kinds of Stress may be applied in the utterance of 
any simple sound or single syllable; but I have 
succeeded best in training the voices of pupils to 
utter sounds, with regard to Stress, by requiring 
them to imitate the pronunciation of words in 
which these different kinds of Stress are exempli- 
fied. Such words as ring and ears^ might serve for 
Radical Stress ; hell and low^ for Vanishing Stress ; 
strike and sad for Median Stress; and so of the 
other kinds. 



214 i:n"struction in- language. 

Of Accent something was said in another con- 
nection, and it need only be added here that the 
best training exercises are those in which pupils 
imitate the teacher as he changes the Accent in 
pronouncing words, or follow him when he desig- 
nates where the Accent should be placed. It 
increases interest when words are selected in respect 
to which a change of Accent brings about a change 
of meaning. 

Compass. — In speaking or singing, the human 
voice moves between certain limits, above or below 
which it cannot utter sounds. The space included 
between these limits is called the Compass of the 
voice. The Compass of the voice is a limitation in 
extent of height or lowness, while the Quantity of 
the voice is a limitation in degree of power. The 
Compass of the voice may be marked by a regular 
series of gradations of sounds. Such a series is 
called a Scale, and the general name for its difterent 
degrees is Pitch. In other words, Pitch in reading 
denotes the point of elevation or depression of the 
voice. These points are called notes in Music. 
They are placed at considerable intervals, and the 
voice generally passes between them by leaps ; 
while in Reading the intervals are mostly crossed 
by sliding the voice from one note to another. 
This sliding the voice from one degree of Pitch to 
another is Inflection, and it seems proper to consider 
it in connection with Pitch. 

There may obviously be as many degrees of 
Pitch in Eeading as there are notes in Music, but 
Elocutionists have not deemed it necessary to dis- 



READING. 215 

tinguish all of tliem. For all practical purposes five 
degrees of Pitcli are sufficient, viz. : Very Low, 
Low, Middle, High, and Yery High. The teacher 
will not find it a very difficult thing to train chil- 
dren to pitch their voices upon any key within their 
Compass. For this purpose he may select vowel 
sounds as a, o ; syllables as do^ ra; words as on^ one, 
book; or suitable sentences. Li exercises like these 
the teacher must first utter the sounds, that the 
pupils may imitate him as he passes from one 
degree of Pitch to another ; but in the end tlie 
pupils must be able to give sounds or read sentences 
with any degree of Pitch required without such aid. 
It is an easy matter to arrange a list of sentences 
which would be good examples for the kind of prac- 
tice here insisted upon. The list should not only 
contain sentences the sense of which would require 
them to be read with different degrees of Pitch ; 
but some in which a change of Pitch is required in 
reading the same sentence. 

Skill in reading depends greatly upon ability to 
manage the Liflections of the voice, and nothing 
but careful training c^n impart it. As in Pitch, the 
teacher may use for his training exercises the ele- 
mentary vocal sounds, letters, figures, words, the 
syllables of the Diatonic Scale, or sentences adapted 
to the purpose. An interesting mode of recitation 
consists in arranging a series of sounds, letters, 
figures, or words, in the form of questions and an- 
swers, and allowing one portion of the class to put 
the questions, and the other to give the answers. 
The different kinds of Inflection are best illustrated 
by means of sentences ; and these, too, furnish the 



216 IN^STKUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

most effective drill. Some Elocutionists have ar- 
ranged bars, like those used in Music, and placed 
upon them certain marks indicating to the eye the 
upward and downward slides of the voice. By 
taking a simple sound or syllable, practice can be 
had in inflecting the voice as readily as in running 
up and down the Diatonic Scale. 

Movement. — By the Movement of the voice is 
meant the degree of rapidity with which sounds can 
be uttered. It is a limitation in time. The degree 
of rapidity with which sounds are uttered in read- 
ing is called Eate. Closely connected with the 
Movement of the voice is Pause. Pauses in reading 
are suspensions of the voice for the purpose of 
giving rest to the reader, or effect to the reading. 

Words or syllables should not be uttered in that 
stated measure which is heard in Music ; but it is 
very evident that solemn discourse requires a Slow 
Rate ; simple narrative, a Moderate Eate ; gay, glad 
description, a Brisk Eate; and wild passion, a Eapid 
Eate ; and it would be very much amiss to overlook 
these facts in reading. The voice, then, should be 
so trained as to be able to utter sounds rapidlj^ or 
slowly at pleasure. Like a good musician, it should 
be able to keep time whether it be quick or slow. 
For the purpose of training his pupils to keep time 
in reading, the teacher will find the drill exercises 
used in Vocal Music to effect the same end, to be 
very valuable. Pupils can be made to give the 
Elementary Vocal Sounds, to count, to name the. 
letters of the Alphabet, or repeat series of words in 
quick or slow time, as the teacher may direct. 






READING. 217 

Numerous sentences can be selected wliicli require 
to be read with the different degrees of Rate, and 
should be made the subjects of frequent lessons. 
With a class in which some pupils read too f^ist or 
too slow, it is well occasionally to practice reading 
in concert. If the teacher observe the proper rate 
in leading the concert, the pupils will soon accustom 
themselves to follow. 

Two kinds of Pauses are to be noted in readino^. 
The first are those indicated by the marks of Punc- 
tuation ; the second are those required by the sense 
but not indicated by the marks of Punctuation. 
The latter are called Rhetorical Pauses. Both 
require the same kind of vocal training. Pauses 
enable the reader to supply himself with breath, to 
rest his organs of speech, to make his delivery more 
effective. The Pauses which are indicated by the 
common marks of Punctuation must not be disre- 
garded ; but all rules which direct pupils to pause 
long enough at a Comma to count a certain number, 
a certain additional number at a Semicolon, and 
twice as many, perhaps, at a Period, are wholly arbi- 
trary and serve only to confuse the pupil. Counting 
may be done rapidly or slowly ; and, besides, since 
the place and length of the Pauses depend altogether 
upon the sense, a longer pause may be required at a 
Comma in one place, than at a Period in another. 
About the only successful mode in which a teacher 
can train his pupils to make proper Pauses in read- 
ing, is to present them correct models for imitation. 
He may either select sentences or take the ordinary 
reading-lessons, and then read each sentence slowly 
and with due regard to all the Pauses, requiring the 

19 



218 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

pupils to follow, both singly and in concert, until 
his end is gained. The melody of verse requires 
certain Pauses in reading not used in prose. To 
train his pupils to properly regard these in blank 
verse as well as in that which is rhymed, and at the 
same time to have them avoid all appearance of 
sing-song tone, will demand great care on the part 
of the teacher. 

Quality. — The Quality of the voice is its capability 
of uttering varied sounds. It is a limitation in kind, 
and includes the manner of uttering all varieties of 
vocal sounds. The particular Qualities of the voice 
applied in reading, are called Tones. The Tones 
are the language of the heart, and no department 
of Modulation requires more delicate management. 
It is by means of Tones in great part that Reading 
and Speaking are made lively and interesting. The 
sense of discourse can be conveyed by words, but 
the feelings of an author can only be expressed in 
the natural language of Tones. A reader or speaker 
who would interest an audience must not utter 
words coldly like a talking machine, but his manner 
of utterance must indicate his personal sentiments. 
His individuality must appear in what he says, and 
this is impossible without the use of Tones. There 
is a very great number of different Tones used in 
reading, many of which can only be appreciated by 
the ear, and cannot be expressed in words. Elocu- 
tionists, however, have formed the following general 
classes, viz.: Pure, Orotund, Aspirated, Guttural, 
and Tremulous. Pure Tone is clear and smooth; 
Orotund, deep, energetic, dignified ; Aspirated, 
whispered; Guttural, harsh, growling, throat- 



READING. 219 

formed; Tremulous, irregular, plaintive. Ability 
to use any one of these Tones at pleasure, or to 
change readily from one to another is to some a gift 
of nature ; but there are few, whatever faults of 
Tone they, may have either -natural or acquired, 
whose voices do not admit of great improvement by 
judicious culture. Since the vocal organs are more 
flexible in youth, than when older, teachers who 
commence a course of training with their pupils, at 
an early age, will find their efforts productive of 
most fruit. Indeed, almost all that is then required 
is to preserve their natui^al purity and sweetness of 
Tone. N'o teacher who cannot himself utter sounds 
in the different Tones must expect his pupils to 
learn to do so. Children are generally apt imitators 
of sounds ; but they cannot imitate what they do not 
hear. If a teacher be able to use correctly the dif- 
ferent Tones in reading, he can readily find means 
of imparting the same power to his pupils. Any 
sound, syllable, or word can be uttered in various 
Tones. • It is said that certain Elocutionists could 
make an audience laugh or weep, awaken their pity 
or their indignation, by the mere recitation of the 
letters of the Alphabet. In addition to this, every 
teacher of Reading should collect numerous prose 
sentences and stanzas of poetry, requiring a variety 
of Tones in the reading, and adapted to the capaci- 
ties of the pupils, and use them for purposes of drill. 
Both teacher and pupils should have them com- 
mitted to memory. The teacher should first utter 
the sentence in the required Tone ; and then pa- 
tiently aid the pupils in doing so. Much effort will 
be required to remove faults of Tone which have 



220 INSTRUCTION IN" LANGUAGE. 

become habitual. Examples of Pure Tone should 
first be practiced upon ; and, afterward, examples 
of the other Tones. The exercises must be con- 
tinued, until the pupils shall have acquired the 
power of uttering sounds in any Tone when so 
directed. 

2. Method of Teaching Eeading as a Mental 
Operation. — Skill in reading does not depend 
wholly, or, perhaps, mainly, upon vocal culture. It 
matters not how well the voice is trained, unless 
there are intellects to think and hearts to feel, there 
can be no good reading. The best instrument will 
make poor music, if the performer be unskilful. If 
ability to make and vary sounds constitute all the 
requirements of good reading, a machine might 
possibly be made to read. 

As a mental operation, Eeading may either relate 
to the intellectual part of the mind or to the emo- 
tive part of it. Our discussion must, therefore, 
embrace : 1st, Reading as related to the Intellect; and, 
2d, Heading as related to the Amotions. 

1st. Heading as related to the Intellect. — ITo one can 
read well what he does not understand. Great 
powers of imitation and a well-cultivated voice 
would be quite as likely to make worse his reading 
who attempted to read what he did not understand, 
as to make it better. A parrot could never be 
taught to read. School boys make sad work read- 
ing Latin, until they come to appreciate the mean- 
ing of the words they use and the sentiments they 
utter. A person can read that which he has written 



READING. 221 

himself better tlian that which others have written, 
because he more fully comprehends it. No one can 
read a passage well who is not able to place him- 
self in the position of its author, enter into his 
spirit, see as he saw, and understand as he under- 
stood. 

In view of the fact above stated, a teacher should 
never assign a reading-lesson to his pupils that they 
are not able to comprehend. Sufficient attention is 
not paid to this principle with any class of pupils ; 
but no where is it so palpably violated as in the case 
of children just learning to read. Reading-books 
are frequently placed in their hands which contain 
matter entirely beyond their comprehension. In 
the great majority of our schools, the pupils are 
using reading-books which are too difficult for them. 
Many teachers, from a desire to gratify patrons, a 
misdirected ambition, or a false standard of excel- 
lence, advance their pupils into the higher numbers 
of their series of reading-books at much too early an 
age. The consequence is not only that they learn 
little in reading that is of value, but they acquire 
bad habits which it is scarcely possible to correct. 
Reading-books for beginners should contain little 
else than simple narrations and lively conversations 
concerning objects in which they feel an interest. 
Starting here, such books might so increase their 
range of subjects and so add to the variety of their 
style, as to adapt themselves to the pupils of any 
age or degree of acquirement in learning. At pre- 
sent, however, it must be confessed that reading- 
books are not so much in fault as reading-teachers. 

Teachers should make careful inquiry concerning 

19* 



222 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

their pupils' knowledge of the subject-matter of the 
reading-lesson. Pupils should be accustomed to 
study the lesson with this prospect, and- the inqui- 
ries should, in general, be made before tb,ey are per- 
mitted to read. Teachers must be careful in the 
reading, as in other lessons, to adapt their questions 
to the capacities of the pupils to whom they are 
addressed. The matter of reading-lessons is so 
varied that it is difficult to designate in detail the 
questions that may be asked concerning it. In 
general, it may be said, that they should be such as 
to call forth the pupil's knowledge of the subject 
presented in the lesson, and to extend, consolidate, 
and impress that knowledge. Pupils may be 
required to give the sense of the selection or pas- 
sage to be read in their own language, and those who 
have minds sufficiently mature, may show the rela- 
tion of the sentences in a paragraph to one another, 
and the relation of each paragraph to the whole 
composition. Questions addressed to young learners 
must be calculated to give exercise to their percep- 
tive powers and their memories ; but those asked 
of advanced pupils should call into requisition the 
faculties of judgment, reason, and imagination. 
Incidentally, in reading-lessons, allusions are often 
made to distinguished persons, to noted places, to 
the principles of science, to works of art, to certain 
books, to the customs of antiquity, to human 
duties, and to many other things that cannot be 
here enumerated ; and as these give life and beauty 
to discourse, as well as reveal the under-currents of 
the author's thought, no teacher can fully discharge 
his trust who does not make them the subject of 



READING. 223 

study and explanation. It thus appears that, while 
all reading-books should be arranged primarily with 
reference to Elocutionary ends, they may be made 
the means.of imparting very important information, 
and inducing highly beneficial culture. 

It is the duty of a teacher of reading to see that 
his class fully understand the language of the author 
read, and appreciate his style. For this purpose, 
he must call their attention to the definition of the 
words, the form and construction of the sentences, 
the marks of punctuation, and the various kinds of 
figures used in the composition. He must make 
language transparent, in order that thought may be 
revealed. Let the idea be hereafter wholly dis- 
carded that flippant pronunciation is good reading. 
Better that the whole time of a recitation be spent 
upon a single paragraph, or even a single sentence, 
than^to suffer pupils merely to utter sounds without 
perceiving the sense they represent. If teachers 
would make good readers of their pupils, they must 
teach them to weigh every word, phrase, and sen- 
tence of the lesson. The reading-lesson prepared 
and recited in this manner becomes a fine intellec- 
tual exercise, and furnishes good opportunities of 
imparting valuable instruction in practical Gram- 
mar and practical Rhetoric. To those pupils who 
are properly prepared, many questions relating to 
the language used in the lesson to be read, need not 
be put at any one recitation, but enough should be 
asked to keep the attention of the class constantly 
alive to the importance of understanding it. 

Skilful reading is hardly possible for one who is 
not a good general scholar. A person who has been 



224: INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

accustomed to study, to tliiuk, who lias read good 
authors, and heard intelligent conversation, will 
readily see the meaning of a word, the drift of a 
sentence, the aptness of a figure, the propriety of an 
illustration, the point of a witticism, the significance 
of an allusion, the force of an argument, or the scope 
of a discourse, which would be wholly obscure to 
another, less gifted by nature, or less favored by 
education. The whole work of the teacher is, there- 
fore, a preparation for the reading-lesson, and much 
benefit may result from so regarding it. 

2d. Readmg as related to the Umotiojis. — Some- 
thing more is necessary, in order to read well, than 
to understand the meaning of what is read. There 
is, probably, no literary production that is the cold 
work of the intellect alone. In all that has been 
written of prose or of poetry, the emotions play an 
important part. The plainest composer does not 
write wholly without feeling, and the heart-beats of 
the true poet stir in his every line. 'No one can 
read skilfully who does not appreciate the senti- 
ment expressed in what he reads, or w^ho does 
not feel for the time being as its author felt w^hen 
he wrote it. He cannot read well of beauty who 
never saw anything beautiful, nor he of gayety, who 
never felt gay, nor he of sorrow who never evinced 
pity, nor he of wit who never enjoyed a joke. 

Our school classes seldom seem to feel what they 
undertake to read. It is not uncommon to hear 
passages, as unlike in sentiment as possible, read 
without variation of Force, Pitch, Rate, or Tone. 
It is uncommon to hear reading done with that 



READING. 225 

regard to tlie feeling expressed in the composition 
wliicli at once evinces good taste and careful cul- 
ture. Something may be done to improve this bad 
reading. 

Such reading-lessons should be assigned as are 
calculated to interest the classes of pupils who are 
to learn them. If the feelings of children do not 
respond to the sentiments expressed in the lessons 
they read, it is „ not because their hearts are cold. 
Let the feelings be such as their child-nature can 
appreciate, and they will evince no want of sym- 
pathy with them. It is not difficult to make an 
application of this principle to all classes of those 
w^ho are learning to read. 

The teacher should lose no opportunity of im- 
pressing upon his pupils the ennobling sentiments 
which he may find in the reading lesson. Many 
occasions will present themselves to the. watchful 
teacher of awakening in their minds a greater love 
for the beautiful, the true, and the good. There are 
beauty, truth, and goodness in the works of nature, 
in art and science, in human life, in the Bible, 
in God, the Fountain of all; and, now and then, 
they are caught up by some master hand, and, ever 
after, like the pearly drops that hang upon the 
flow^ers, like the beaded bubbles that break upon 
the stream, grace our literature. These the teacher 
can hold before the gaze of admiring pupils, until 
their hearts respond in answering sympathy. Senti- 
ments of an opposite character may be found in 
reading-lessons, for literature is but a reflection of 
human nature, and has its dark side ; but right 
teaching will do much to guard against their iuflu- 



226 INSTRUCTION" IN LANGUAGE. 

ence. Bad sentiments will not be more loved 
because well read. 

One of the highest aims of composition is to 
adapt the linguistic expression of thought and feel- 
ing to their nature. Without a close analysis of the 
language used by an author, it is scarcely possible 
to feel as he felt. The heart of an author and the 
heart of a reader hold communion through the 
medium of words. It is the teacher's duty to remove 
all obscurity from this medium, not only by explain- 
ing their meaning, but by exhibiting the music and 
the poetry of words. I have marked the pleasure 
expressed on the countenances of pupils when they 
first began to appreciate the beauty of a Metaphor, 
or the force of an Antithesis, and was not disap- 
pointed in judging that such appreciation would 
improve their reading. 

All education that tends to improve the taste and 
to give proper direction to the emotive nature, will 
be valuable preparation for the reading lesson. 
Among means of this kind, may be mentioned ex- 
tensive and varied reading, intelligent travel, famil- 
iarity with the beauties of nature and art, and 
sympathy with the comforts and pleasures, the 
wants and woes, the fond aspirations and the proud 
successes, the blasted hopes and the fruitless enter- 
prises, which so strangely checker human life. The 
Elocutionist must be a student of man's mental 
nature,- learn to analyze the mingled emotions that 
agitate his bosom, and observe and imitate the most 
effective manner in which the}^ express themselves 
in posture, in gesture, and in words. 



BEADING. 227 

3. Method of Teaching Delivery. 

Delivery is the manner of reading. Success in 
Delivery depends upon observing the relation be- 
tween thought and feeling and their expression. 
The practical end for which skill in reading may be 
desired, is to give full force to the meaning, and full 
effect to the sentiment of an author. A person may 
possess a well-trained voice, and may have both the 
head and the heart to appreciate what he reads, and, 
still, for want of power to adapt the one to the other 
in practical use, fail to read well. In other words, 
his reading machinery can be quite perfect, and yet 
he may not succeed in putting its several parts in 
working order. 

What is designed to be said of Delivery can be 
embraced under three heads : Expression^ Posture, 
and Gesture. 

Expression. — Expression is vocal Delivery. The 
great principle to be observed in vocal Delivery is 
that all the mechanical modifications of the voice 
should be governed by the nature of the thought 
and feeling to be expressed, and the construction of 
the sentence in wdiich they are embodied. This 
principle may be applied in teaching reading in two 
ways : fi.rst, the teacher may read correctly and 
require his pupils to imitate him ; and, second, the 
relations existing between thought and feeling and 
their utterance in words, may be generalized into 
rules which can be learned and followed in reading. 

With children just beginning to read, the teacher 
must instruct them mainly by using their powers of 
imitation. His voice must be their constant model. 
Rules can be but of little service to them. A large 



228 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

number of suitable sentences for practice may be 
prepared ; and these the teacher should continue to 
utter, until the pupils can deliver them in the proper 
manner. Faults of reading should be prevented by 
showing what is right, and similar faults should be 
corrected by showing in what they consist. All 
descriptions of the variations of the voice in Quan- 
tity, Compass, Movement, or Tone, will be unmean- 
ing, unless the sound described be itself exhibited. 
This method of teaching Reading by imitation is 
not only applicable to young learners, but must be 
used throughout the whole course of instruction. In 
advanced classes, however, it is to be employed in 
connection with the second method above indicated. 
It follows from all this that the teacher should be a 
good reader. Keading can no more easily be taught 
by one who is not an Elocutionist than Yocal Music 
can be taught by one who is not a Musician. 

Books which treat of Elocution contain many 
rules that relate to Delivery. There are rules de- 
signed to aid the student in the use of Force,. Em- 
phasis, Slur and Stress, Pitch and Inflection, Rate 
and Pause, and Tone. The manner in which sen- 
tences of different forms should be delivered is 
pointed out ; and, in order to leave no doubt in the 
pupil's mind concerning the application of the rules, 
certain reading lessons are arranged with a notation 
indicating the Quantity, Compass, Movement, and 
Quality of voice required. Of course, rules relating 
to Posture ^nd Gesture, are also given. That some 
advantage may be gained from the study of these 
rules by learners who are able to understand and 
apply them, can hardly be questioned ; but that 



READING. 229 

harm may be done likewise is to be greatly feared. 
If pupils can be made to see that conformity to the 
requirements of Elocutionary rules in their reading 
enables them better to present the thought and feel- 
ing of an author, and adds more force and graceful- 
ness to their Delivery, these rules may be profitably 
studied and applied ; but if such rules are them- 
selves arbitrary, imperfectly understood, or have 
been derived by a wrong method, the more effort 
that is made to apply them, the more stiff and formal 
wdll the Reading become. These remarks appro- 
priately introduce the question : What constitutes 
good Delivery ? The teacher must have some stan- 
dard of excellence to which he aspires to elevate 
his class, and b}^ which he criticises their Elocu-^ 
tionary performances — What is that standard? It 
is an easy matter to require pupils to commit and 
mechanically apply the ordinary rules for reading 
found in the works on Elocution ; but upon what 
foundation do the rules themselves rest? Some 
say, '' ^N'ature is the Standard." It is admitted that 
if we read as we speak, we would read much better 
than we do ; but it is still true that much of our 
readino; would not then be in accordance w^ith srood 
taste. There are ver\^ few persons whose vocal organs 
do not need culture ; and, even of those who have 
received it, scarcely any two have the same natural 
style of speaking. Whose style is to be taken as a 
standard ? Others maintain that Delivery is to be 
measured by its effects upon an audience — if it 
please, it is good, but if it displease, it is imperfect. 
A reader may learn much respecting his impro- 
prieties of Delivery by watching its effect upon his 
20 



200 INSTKUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

hearers ; but he will find such a standard very un- 
reliable, as what some count excellences others will 
consider defects. The truth is that Reading is a 
Fine Art, and like Painting, Sculpture, Architec- 
ture, and other such Arts, no rules of criticism 
derived empirically are as an ultimate measure of 
beauty applicable to it. Every man is endowed 
directly by his Maker with the power of judging 
between beauty and deformity, and he uses this 
powder in criticising nature herself. Given suitable 
occasions for its exercise, and this taste is capable 
of improvement, and detects beauty with more cer- 
tainty. Delivery in Reading, as well as style in the 
other Fine Arts, is wholly a matter of taste ; iand 
Elocutionary rules made by others than those who 
are capable of judging what is most fit and beautiful 
in Expression, or most graceful in Posture or Ges- 
ture, are entirely unworthy of confidence. Such 
rules as express the laws of taste, however, the 
teacher is at liberty to impress upon the minds of 
his pupils. He must always exemplify them by his 
own reading. Thus learned, they will serve as 
models. Properly presented, they do not destroy 
the learner's individuality, they do not convert him 
into a mere machine, but they leave room for the 
display of the peculiarities of his own genius, and 
tend only to promote the normal growth of that 
noble part of his nature which directs him where 
to find the beautiful and how to appreciate it. 

Supposing that pupils have received proper vocal 
training and that intellectual and moral instruction 
which fits them to read well, the teacher's further 
duty consists in cultivating their taste in Delivery 



READIXG. 231 

by furnishing occasions for its exercise, in present- 
ing them a chaste model for imitation in his own 
Delivery, in guiding them by such rules as express 
the generalized results of the masters of the art, and 
in providing for them those opportunities of prac- 
tice which are necessary to make the required modes 
of Expression and Action habitual. Skill in Read- 
ing, thus attained, will be a growth of that which is 
within the learner, and not an imposition upon him 
from without — it will be the realization in Expres- 
sion of his own ideals of beauty. 

Posture. — The position which the- body assumes 
in Reading or Speaking is called Posture. Posture 
relates simply to the disposition of the different 
members of the body before or during Delivery, 
while Gesture is applied to such of the motions of 
these members as indicate or enforce thought or 
feeling. 

It will be necessary upon this subject to do little 
more than to announce the general principles which 
have reference to it. 

1st. The Posture of the Reader should he one of ease 
to himself. — To secure an easy Posture, the reader 
must violate no Physiological law. He must stand 
firmly, but not stiffly, on his feet ; change his weight 
frequently from one foot to the other; keep his 
body erect; project his chest forward and throw his 
shoulders back; and allow his arms to hang naturally 
by his side. If a book is. used, it should be held in 
the left hand, in order that the right may be readily 
employed in turning the leaves, or in Gesticulating. 



232 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

In short, the easiest Posture should be sought and 
maintained for all the members of the body. 

2d. The Posture of a Reader should he graceful. — 
If a reader stand perfectly at ease, his Posture will 
exhibit a good degree of gracefulness. In addition 
to this, however, a reader should rise gracefully; 
walk forward gracefully ; take his jDOsition, and 
change it, when necessary, gracefully ; make all the 
members of the body retain their place, and perform 
their part gracefully; and, when done, gracefully 
take his seat. 

All Postures must be practiced until they become 
habitual. The pupil's taste, as to what is graceful, 
must be chastened by an exhibition of the best 
models the teacher can furnish. 

Gesture. — Gestures are the actions of the various 
members of the body, which indicate and enforce 
thought and feeling. Reading and Speaking in the 
English language are characterized by less Gesticu- 
lation than was used 'by the nations of antiquity, 
with which we are best acquainted, or than is now 
used among many modern nations ; but still the 
subject deserves more attention than is generally 
accorded to it. There can be no doubt that Read- 
ing, Declamation, and Oratorj^ are all much more 
effective when Expression in Delivery is accompa- 
nied by appropriate Gestures. 

In speaking of methods of teaching Gesture, all 
that was said of Expression might be repeated, with 
little modification. Gesture can be taught by imi- 
tation, and, also, by learning and applying the rules 



READING. 233 

whicli express the relations between sentiment and 
Action. Young beginners can be taught only by 
requiring them to imitate the models the teacher 
may exhibit to them. He must sliow them what is 
right, and patiently train them to do it. Elocution- 
ists profess to have analyzed the bodily actions 
which indicate and enforce thought and feeling, 
and to be able to frame rules that will serve to 
guide pupils in Gesticulating. Each thought and 
each feeling in these systems is indicated and 
enforced b}^ certain motions of the hands, the arms, 
the feet, the head, the mouth, the eyes, or some 
other member or members of the body ; and 
pupils are expected to learn and apply them in 
reading. Reading-lessons, too, are sometimes no- 
tated in such a manner as to indicate w^hat Ges- 
tures are deemed appropriate. Rules for Gestures, 
thus formed, are advantageous to pupils, under the 
same conditions as those for Expression, and open 
to the same objections. Gestures should express 
some meaning, or else not be used. The same 
standard, that of cultivated taste, by which Delivery 
in sound may be criticised, is equally applicable to 
Delivery in action. And, finally, as in Expression, 
the teacher must multiply occasions for the exercise 
of the taste of his pupils in Gesticulation, he must 
give them in his own Delivery a fit model for imi- 
tation, he must teach them to conform to rules 
which good taste has everywhere sanctioned, and 
he must provide them that practice which is neces- 
sary to prompt the ready Gesture, even while the 
words leap from the tongue. 
20* 



23tL INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

It is proper to close this discussion with a sum- 
mary of topics which may proiitabl}^ be considered 
in conducting a recitation in Reading. They may 
aid pupils in preparing lessons, as well as guide 
teachers in hearing recitations. Many or few ques- 
tions may be asked under each head according to 
the circumstances of the class ; or^ in particular 
cases, some of the topics may be altogether omitted. 
A perfect recitation would require a perfect know- 
ledge of all that is embraced in the list. It may be 
added that passages should be daily committed to 
memory, and declaimed. All Delivery is much 
crippled by the use of a book. 

List of Topics for a Recitation in Reading. — 
Before reading a passage, pupils should be able — 

1. To pronounce the words. 

2. To define the words. 

3. To understand the subject-matter. 

4. To explain the language. 

5. To account for the marks of Punctuation. 

6. To point out what is true, beautiful, and good 
in the sentiment. 

7. To show the manner of Delivery, and give 
reasons for it. 

n. Learning to Understand our Mother-Tongue. 
In learning to understand our Mother-Tongue, it 
is necessary to acquaint ourselves with four distinct 
branches of study, viz. : Lexicology, or the science 
Avhich treats of words ; Grammar, or the science 
which treats of sentences; Rhetoric, or the science 
which treats of discourse; and Pldlology, or the 
science of the origin and growth of Language. 



LEXICOLOGY. 235 

Lexicology. 
I use the term Lexicology to denote the science 
which treats of the meaning of words ; and methods 
of teaching the meaning of words is the subject 
intended for discussion in the present Article. 

There can be no conscious thinking without the 
use of symbols. The most convenient of all thought- 
signs are words. Words, indeed, are the wheels by 
which the thinking process goes on. 

Words are the vehicles of social intercourse. 
Without them, the fountains of the soul would be 
almost sealed up. 

Words are the repositories of science and art. 
The dead past lies buried, but living words com- 
memorate it and transmit its mighty deeds to the 
far future. Words are the caskets in wdiich are 
preserved forever the jeweled thoughts of the good 
and great. How much feeling, thought, or power 
may be concentrated in a single word : as love^ truth, 
will ! 

Words are the medals of the mind. All our 
mental energies impress themselves upon words. A 
nation's character can be best read in its language. 
"Language is concrete Metaphysics." 

Words are the media of instruction. A know- 
ledge of the simplest facts as well as the deepest 
philosophy is almost helpless without the motive- 
power of words. Words are the winged messengers 
that convey information from one mind and heart 
to another. All knowledge must be labeled w^ith 
words or it can find no place in the cabinet of the 
memory. 



236 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

Such is the worth of words. It is surely worth 
while to study their meaning. 

There are many ways by which the young may 
learn the meaning of words. They may learn it by 
direct intuition; by concrete exilian atio7is ; hj the use 
of simplijied expressions ; by observing their significa- 
tion as used in sentences; by the study of foreign lan- 
guages ; by an acquaintance ivith Etymology; and by 
scientific definitions. 

The meaning of words may he learned hy direct intui- 
tion. — Children learn the first elements of language 
by hearing persons speak, and noticing the associa- 
tion made between certain verbal utterances and 
sensible objects. When a little older, they seem to 
increase their vocabulary by catching the meaning 
of words from the connections in w^hich they are 
used. In all nature there is nothing more wonder- 
ful than the process by which children learn to 
talk. They seem to possess a language-forming 
instinct. They have thoughts and feelings impris- 
oned within them, and instinctively seek to set 
them free. If they had no opportunity of hearing 
words they would invent them. As it is, they add 
to their stock of word-knowledge every day, their 
memories clinging tenaciously to all the words they 
listen to. They catch up words from parents, 
brothers and sisters, companions, servants, visitors, 
and often, indeed, coin new ones. In all this, there 
is no conscious reasoning, no formal instruction, 
and I call the process intuition. 

In view of the power children possess of learning 



LEXICOLOGY. 237 

the meaning of words by intuition, it becomes the 
teacher's duty to allow them an opportunity to exer- 
cise this power. He may talk to them of things in 
which they feel an interest, tell them stories, or 
read suitable selections to them. If he adapts his 
matter and style to their mental condition, he will 
not want attentive listeners, and he will enjoy the 
satisfaction of seeing them acquire the use of new 
words and new forms of expression every day. A 
teacher must not only talk to his pupils, but he 
must listen to their talk. Children are great talkers. 
There is within them an impulse strongly and con- 
stantly impelling them to hear, to see, to examine 
things, and then to tell about them. Prevent a 
child from talking, force him to perpetual silence, 
and you will make him an idiot. Besides, a child 
loves to use the new words he has acquired, and the 
watchful teacher can readily detect the reproduction 
of his own expressions in the language of his pupils. 
As soon as children are able to read they will have 
opened up a new source from which to enlarge their 
knowledge of words. 

The meaning of words may he learned hy concrete expla- 
nations. — By concrete explanations of words are 
meant such explanations as may be given by means 
of an exhibition of the objects, actions, or qualities 
for which the words stand. For example, the word 
pistil could be explained by pointing to that part of 
a flower, the word decrepitate by throwing a little salt 
into the fire, and th^ word transparent by holding 
up a piece of glass. In the absence of an object, 



238 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

the well-remembered experience of a child may be 
used instead of it. 

^'o one can doubt that if proper skill was used, 
the pupils in our schools might be made acquainted 
with a large number of words in the way just named. 
Lessons on objects are well "calculated to impart this 
kind of instruction, but a teacher who sees the im- 
portance of it can find opportunity to impart it in 
giving a lesson on any subject. Special lessons 
planned with reference to this end, might be made 
very profitable as well as very interesting. 

The meaning of words may he learned hy the use of 
simplified expressions. — If the meaning of a word is 
not understood, it may be explained by using less 
obscure synonymous words or forms of words — that 
is by the use of simplified expressions. A very large 
proportion of the words in a Dictionary are defined, 
if the process is properly called defining, in this 
manner. The "definition" of the word abandon is 
to give up, to forsake ; of the word abbreviate, to shoi^ten; 
of the word abrogate, to repeal ; of the word absur- 
dity, the quality of being inconsistent ivith obvious truth ; 
and so on for thousands of words. It is evident in 
all these cases that if a pupil comprehends the 
"definition" he can comprehend the word defined. 

How can a teacher make use of simplified expres- 
sions in teaching the meaning of words ? In the 
first place, no words must be used in the explana- 
tions which the pupils do not understand. The 
unknown can be understood only from its connec- 
tions with the known. Many school dictionaries err 
gravely on this point and thus defeat their whole 



LEXICOLOGY. • 239 

object. Moreover, a School Dictionary ought to 
illustrate the meaning of every word by appropriate 
sentences in which the word is used. It would be 
much better, too, for the purposes of teaching, if 
the words were arranged in lessons according to 
the subjects or things to which they relate, and not 
Alphabetically. 

The common school-exercise of " learning defi- 
nitions " is open to serious objections. It requires 
pupils to commit the explanations of words to 
memory and recite them, but presents no test to 
ascertain whether they are understood or otherwise. 
A new word is valuable only when accompanied by 
a new thought, or when it furnishes a better expres- 
sion for an old one. AVords simply memorized are 
dead, mere skeleton- words, without life or soul in 
them. They lie in the memory a confused mass, of 
which no use can be made. If text-books on Lexi- 
cology were arranged as indicated in the preceding 
paragraph, they might be used in classes, to the great 
advantage of the pupils. If, in addition to the usual 
synonymes and synonymous expressions, sentences 
embodying each word were presented, its meaning 
would become apparent. Besides, pupils should be 
required to compose original sentences containing 
the words of the lesson, and this they could not do 
without understanding them. Words having some 
relation to one another form a much more interest- 
ing lesson than, dry lists of disconnected words. 

The meaning of words may he learned hy ohserving 
their Signification as used in Sentences. — It has already 
been intimated that the meaning of words can be 



240 • INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

more readily discerned in sentences than in the 
columns of Spelling-Books or Dictionaries. Chil- 
dren especially are apt in learning the meaning of 
words in this way. They rise from the perusal of 
every good book with a rich accession of new words; 
and a person can often tell the volume a child has 
been engaged in reading by his language. More- 
over, the liner shades of meaning, which distinguish 
individual words, the innermost thought embodied 
in a word, cannot be learned from a Dictionary. 
Lexicographers explain each word by the use of 
other words or forms of expression, but, since these 
cannot mean exactly the same thing, every scholar 
has felt the deficiencies of Dictionaries, and is aware 
that they cannot be supplied. Those who desire to 
realize the deepest meaning of words must study 
them in discourse. 

Teachers can do much to inculcate a taste for 
reading among their pupils, and in this way, among 
other good results, enable them. to increase their 
facility in the use of language. The reading-lesson 
furnishes a good opportunity for calling the atten- 
tion of pupils to the meaning of words, as used 
'singl}^, or in phrases, clauses, or whole sentences, or 
whether in a plain or a figurative sense. Something 
may be done, too, to impart similar instruction in 
hearing recitations in any branch of knowledge. - If 
new or uncommon words occur in a lesson, it is well 
for the teacher to require an explanation of them. 
The attention of pupils can thus be kept directed 
upon the words they meet with in their studies, and 
every day some addition will be made to their prac- 
tical vocabulary. 



LEXICOLOaY. 2-il 

The meaning of ivords may he learned hy the study of 
Foreign Languages. — In the study of foreign lan- 
guages, we necessarily use our Mother-Tongue. [N'o 
practice can be better calculated to familiarize us 
with the meaning of words than that of translating 
the words of our own into another language, or the 
reverse. It is hardly possible otherwise to develop 
that fine sense by which the nicer distinctions 
among words and forms of expression can be per- 
ceived. I^othmg further need be stated here, as 
elsewhere there will be found a discussion of 
methods of teaching these languages. 

The meaning of wo7'ds may he learned hy an acquaint- 
ance with Etymology. — The English is a composite 
language. Its ground-work is the Anglo-Saxon 
element, but it has been enriched by the introduc- 
tion of multitudes of words from the Latin, Greek, 
French, German, Danish, and other languages. 
Anglo-Saxon words mainly compose the language 
of common life, and their meaning is generally 
learned without study. Those words for whose 
meaning we search Dictionaries are mostly deriva- 
tive words; and in order to understand them fully 
it is almost necessary to study their Etymology. It 
is not going too far to say that without performing 
an Etymological analysis of words, no student can 
use them with nice discrimination and full effect. 

Etymologists have made three classes of the ele- 
ments of words, as follows : Prefixes, Suffixes, and 
Root- Words. With respect to methods of teaching, 
the first two classes may be placed together. 

A method of teaching Prefixes and Suffixes may 
21 



242 . liS-STRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

be readily indicated. A well-arranged text-book 
on Etymology should contain lists of Prefixes and 
Suffixes, their signification, and numerous examples, 
in which the meaning of each is plainly illustrated. 
Lessons may be assigned and prepared, as in other 
studies. At the recitation, pupils may be required 
to write on the blackboard lists of the elements em- 
braced in the lesson, together with their significa- 
tions. They may point out the Prefixes and Suffixes 
in the words presented as examples in the book, and 
write words containing any given element. Teachers 
ought to prepare themselves with a number of mis- 
cellaneous words as tests of their pupils' skill. 

When pupils have been made thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the Prefixes and Suffixes, the work 
of teaching them the Root-Words of the language 
should commence. Almost the only Root- Words 
whose meaning is not known without study are 
those which have come into our language from the 
Latin and Greek, and the signification of these must 
be learned from text-book or teacher. Text-Bo-oks 
on Etymology generally present a Root- Word, ex- 
plain its meaning, and then give lists of words 
derived from it. For example, the Latin word 
traho is presented ; its primary meaning is stated to 
be to draw, and then follow words like attraction, 
subtraction, detraction, protraction, contraction, retrac- 
tion, traceable, trackless; and others more obscure in 
their derivation, as contractability, subtrahend, drag, 
2?ortrait, track, trade, tract, &c. In reciting, pupils 
should be required to give the Root- Words and their 
meaning, and then to analyze the derivative words 
presented as examples, pointing out the force of the 



LEXICOLOGY. • 243 

elements composing them, and the laws of their 
union, and, finally, explaining the meaning of the 
whole word. The mode of Etymological analysis 
may be illustrated by an example. Take the word, 
attraction : ATTRACTI0:N'. Prefix, at-, signifying 
to, changed from ad on account of euphony ; Suffix, 
-ion, signifying the act of or process; Root-Word, 
-tract-, derived from the Latin, traho or tractum, which 
signifies to draw ; Meaning of the word, tlie act or 
the process of drawing to, or the tendency of bodies to 
ajjproach one another and adhere together. After an- 
alyzing a word, pupils may embody it in sentences. 
A text-book ought not to contain full lists of deriva- 
tive words, as pupils are much profited by searching 
for them. Miscellaneous exercises in the analysis 
of words must be furnished either by the text-book 
or the teacher. It may be remarked further that 
instead of committing to memory the meaning of 
Prefixes, Suffix:es, and Root -Words, and analyzing 
words by the aid of this knowledge, lists of words 
which contain some common element may first be 
given to the pupil, the meaning of that element 
be ascertained and traced in other words, and, 
finally, syntheses of such elements be formed. This 
method, however, will not be found to dift'er ma- 
terially in practice from the preceding. 

In conducting exercises in Etymological analysis, 
the teacher can deepen his pupil's interest in the 
study of words by imparting information, now and 
then, in regard to the origin and history of words. 
He might introduce into almost every lesson a few 
words whose primitive meaning would attract special 
attention, or whose history would excite peculiar 



244 INSTRUCTION IN" LANGUAGE. 

curiosity. It might be explained liow new words 
come into a language, how old ones become obso- 
lete, and why some languages contain words for 
which no expressions are found in others. This is, 
indeed, a rich field, and it can be worked by a skil- 
ful teacher so as to yield fruit a hundredfold. 

The meaning of words may he learned hy seientijic de- 
finitions. — A definition is a connected statement of 
the essential properties or qualities of a name or 
a thing. These properties or qualities may be the 
results of experience or they may be the pure pro- 
ducts of the Reason. The definitions peculiar to the 
Empirical Sciences are of the former class, and those 
which belono; to the Formal and Rational Sciences 
are of the latter class. Compare, for example, the 
definitions of a mountain, a leaf, a bone, on the one 
hand, with those of a circle, order, truth, beauty, 
goodness, considered abstractly, on the other. 

It is to be remarked that the construction of 
scientific definitions requires very accurate know- 
ledge both of things and words. A good definition 
is always a scientific triumph. It indicates that the 
thing defined has been thoroughly investigated; 
that all that is essential to it has been connected in 
thought and expressed in words. Such definitions 
make plain the meaning of words to those who will 
take pains to stud}- them. 

In regard to teaching scientific definitions, it is 
scarcely necessary to say that little advantage is 
derived from simply committing them to memory. 
If not understood, they are mere empty words that 
but cumber the mind without strengthening it. The 



GRAMMAR. 2-i5 

kiucl of definitions now referred to can only be 
learned by learning tlie elements, real or ideal, of 
which they are made up. The teacher must carry 
his pupil back from the forms of words to the rela- 
tions of things, and then no school-exercise can be 
more useful than that of learning definitions. 

Grammar. 

Few branches of study have been taught less 
skilfully than Grammar. This bad teaching is 
owing to both text-book and teacher. 

There is no text-book on English Grammar that 
is a strictly scientific exposition of the principles 
of the English language. Treatises upon this sub- 
ject may be found which contain a great deal that 
is valuable ; but, in all of them, there is too much 
efibrt made to fit the peculiar constructions of our 
Anglo-Saxon speech to the forms of the ancient lan- 
guages. More independence of thought is wanted 
in treating of the English language. Not till some 
scholar is strong enough and bold enough to strip 
the subject of its superfluous forms and rid it of its 
incorrect definitions, and present its laws in a con- 
cise, consistent, and logical manner, will we have, 
what can be truly called, an Eyiglish Grammar. Be- 
sides, the arrangement of most of our Grammar 
books is the worst possible for the purpose of teach- 
ing beginners. They commence by giving a defini- 
tion of Grammar, by stating its great general divi- 
sions, by fixing the number of Parts of Speech, &c. 
— none of which generalizations can possibl}- be 
understood without at least some knowledge of the 
language. They would be more appropriate at the 

21* 



246 INSTEUCTION" IN LANGUAGE. 

end of the book than at the beginning of it. In 
teaching, definitions should be accompanied with, 
an exposition of their contents; and generalizations, 
with a statement of the facts on which they are 
founded; but these principles are constantly vio- 
lated by our authors of Grammars. 

Good teaching may neutralize the bad results 
which are apt to follow from the use of imperfect 
text-books ; but it is to be feared that in the case 
of Grammar many of the commonly practiced 
methods of teaching tend rather to increase these 
bad results than to diminish them. A majority 
of teachers to-day in teaching Grammar blindly 
follow the order of the text-book; and though 
every recitation should furnish evidence that this 
is an error, they fail to appreciate it. Grammar, as 
generally taught, consists in memorizing definitions, 
declensions, conjugations, and rules, and in applying 
them in parsing and in the correction of examples 
in False Syntax. Pursued in this manner, it is an 
artificial and arbitrary system built up apart from 
the ground upon which as a science it must rest. 
Definitions, rules, and forms, in Grammar are merely 
words and mean nothing disconnected from the facts 
and principles which underlie them. 

Grammar is the science of sentences. English 
Grammar is the science of the English sentence. 
There are certain general principles which are ap- 
plicable to the sentences of all languages, and there 
are other principles which belong only to particular 
languages. The division just made is therefore a 
proper one. Grammar is not an art. Composition 
treats of the art of speaking and writing. 



GRAMMAR. 247 

Sentences are composed of words, and these words 
may be classified according to their individual mean- 
ing or office ; the modifications, properties, and re- 
lations of each class may be determined ; and the 
whole be made to constitute a system of English 
Grammar. This method of studying the sentence 
may be called Etymological inasmuch as it deals with 
words as the best defined, integral parts of which 
sentences are composed. 

Sentences are composed of elements, some of them 
essential and others non-essential, at some times 
consisting of a single word and at other times of 
several words combined, and these elements may be 
classified according to their sentential relations, 
each class become the subject of scientific investi- 
gation, and the result be made to constitute another 
system of English Grammar. This method of study- 
ing the sentence may de called Logical inasmuch as 
it is based upon the mutual relations of the elements 
of sentences. 

These two methods are both essentially analytical, 
and are not at all antagonistic. Both ought to be 
combined in practical teaching. The Logical method 
might first consider sentences as wholes and then 
find and dispose of their elements ; after which the 
Etymological method might treat of the individual 
words of which they are composed. J^either can 
be dispensed with in the construction of a system 
of Grammatical science. 

To commence the study of the science of Gram- 
mar proper, with the prospect of much profit, pupils 
ought to possess considerable general knowledge, 
and be from twelve to fifteen years of age. The 



248 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

first steps may be easy, but it requires some maturity 
of thought to comprehend the principles which are 
soon involved. Previous to the time of their com- 
mencing the study of the science of Grammar, 
pupils should have much practice in elementary 
Composition, of which it is intended to speak here- 
after, and it would be greatly to their advantage to 
be taught the exercises now about to be described. 
I call them Etymological Exercises, and desire that 
they should be considered as an introduction to the 
study of Grammar. 

Etymological Exercises. 

Exercise First. — Nouns. — The class may be re- 
quired to write on slates or blackboard the names 
of the objects in the school-room. This work 
having been criticised by one another and corrected 
by the teacher in respect to spelling, punctuation, 
neatness, &c., they may be required to write further 
the names of things seen in coming to school, those 
which stand for kinds of trees, flowers, the organs 
of the body, the parts of ^a house, the tools used by 
farmers or mechanics, the articles purchased at 
stores, &c. ; and submit their work for correction as 
before. They may now be told that the names of 
objects are called i^ouns ; and much further practice 
should be allowed them in selecting the IsTouns in 
sentences and framing sentences containing ^ouns. 

Exercise Second. — Kinds of Nouns. — The teacher 
may name the boys in the class, and ask for the 
name common to all. The girls may be named in 
the same way, and also particular cities, rivers, 



GRAMMAR. 249 

mountains, &c., and like inquiries be made concern- 
ing them. Some common name can then be assigned 
as horse, book, man, and the pupils required to write 
all the particular names that they can think of which 
are comprehended in the general name. This done, 
the terms Common and Proper, as applied to Nouns, 
can be defined, and pupils be profitably engaged in 
classing them accordingly, in pointing them out in 
sentences, and in constructing sentences containing 
them. 

Exercise Third. — The Properties of Nouns. — 
Gender, Number, and Person are the only Properties 
of Nouns that can be taught intelligently without 
an analysis of sentences. Case, therefore, except 
the Possessive, cannot be treated of in this con- 
nection. 

The teacher need not point out many examples 
to enable pupils to understand the distinctions of 
Gender and Number. They can readily see, too, 
that some objects speak, some are spoken to, and 
others are spoken of. They should be required, 
however, to write lists of words denoting objects in 
each Gender, Number, and Person; and point them 
out as they occur in sentences. Sentences may be 
written containing such words. 

Exercise Fourth. — Verbs. — The method of teach- 
ing Verbs will be understood by the following illus- 
tration : AVhat does the fire do ? Class. " It burns." 
"Write the word " burns" on your slates. What does 
the wind do ? Class. " It blows." Write " blows," 
also. What does the rain do ? Class. " It falls." 



250 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

What are the birds doing in yonder grove ? Class. 
*' They sing." What can you say of plants ? Class. 
" They grow." Write the words "falls," sing," and 
"grow" under the others, ^ow each take a place 
at the blackboard, and write the names of all the acts 
you can think of that boys do. The class write — 
"boys play," "boys read," "boys write," "boys run," 
" boys eat," "boys laugh," &c., &c. The actions that 
girls, horses, dogs, birds, &c., perform may then be 
written, if time permit, or assigned for future lessons ; 
and, when pupils are fully prepared to -understand it, 
they may be told that all the names of actions are 
called verbs. In further lessons, they may be re- 
quired to form sentences containing particular verbs 
and to point out the verbs in sentences. 

Exercise Fifth. — Kinds of Verbs. — Adopting the 
common classification of Verbs, lists of them may 
be written upon the blackboard as follows : — 

FIRST LIST. SECOND LIST. THIRD LIST. 

Boys play. The table stands. The boy was whipped. 

Birds fly. The book lies. The soldier is wounded. 

Men work. The curtains hang. The horses were sold. 

Dogs bark. The teacher sits. The pitcher was broken. 

Pupils having learned that the names of actions 
are Verbs, can readily point out the Verbs in the 
first hst. They may then be asked to point out the 
words that most resemble Verbs in the second and 
third lists. This done, they may be shown the dif- 
ferences in the meaning of the three kinds of Verbs, 
and learn to call them by their names — Active, 
Neuter, and Passive. A great deal of practice must 
be allowed pupils in naming the different kinds of 



GRAMMAR. 251 

Verbs as they occur in sentences, and in composing 
sentences containing tliem. 

Exercise Sixth. — The Properties of Verbs. — 
Whether Verbs are the names of actions which are 
perceptible, or of those which are imperceptible; 
whether they denote actions performed or actions 
endured, they must have reference to time and man- 
ner. Pupils can readily give orally or write the 
names of actions which are taking place at the pre- 
sent time; and it is not much more difficult to 
suppose that the same actions took place yesterday, 
or will take place to-morrow, and to express them 
accordingly. After full practice upon the Present, 
Past, and Future Tenses, the pupils may be made 
acquainted with those subdivisions of them thought 
to be necessary by Grammarians. 

The teacher can write lists of sentences contain- 
insr Verbs in the different Modes, and instruct his 
pupils in those peculiarities of expression upon 
which distinctions of Mode are founded. 

Many examples of Verbs should then be given, 
and the pupils be required to state their Tense and 
Mode. Sentences can also be constructed containino* 
Verbs of certain given Tenses and Modes. 

Verbs denote by their form whether actions are 
performed or received by one person or more, or by 
a speaker, a person or thing spoken to, or a person 
or thing spoken of. This can be readily exemplified 
in the manner previously described. 

Pupils should not only be required to commit the 
Conjugation of verbs, in a certain order, but they 
should be expected to answer questions asked mis- 



262 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

cellaneously upon it. The teacher may name Modes, 
Tenses, Numbers, and Persons, and demand of the 
pupils forms of Verbs that answer the conditions, 
he may require such Verbs to be embodied in sen- 
tences, or he may assign the sentences and engage the 
pupils in distinguishing and classifying the Verbs. 

Exercises similar to those now described should 
be given in respect to Pronouns, Adjectives, Ad- 
verbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections; 
but any teacher who has appreciated the spirit of 
the method indicated can do it for himself The 
spirit and form of these Exercises are identical with 
those recommended in giving lessons on objects. 
The more obscure distinctions in Etymological 
Grammar can be presented in the same way to 
pupils prepared to understand them. It must be 
remembered, however, that these exercises do not 
contemplate an exhaustive discussion of the Parts 
of Speech. 

G-RAMMAR AS A SCIENCE. 

An effort will now be made to point out the pro- 
per method of teaching Grammar as a science. 

Our thinking is regulated by laws. The science 
which treats of these laws is Ti02:ic. Lano^uasre is 
the verbal expression of thought, and therefore there 
must be a close analogy between the laws of thought 
and the laws of speech. Hence the relationship 
which exists between Grammar and Lo2:ic. 

We think, talk, and write in sentences. Discourse 
is made up of sentences. A sentence in Grammar 
corresponds to the unit in Mathematics. It is the 



GRAMMAR. 253 

least integral part of discourse, as words are but frac- 
tional parts of sentences. The first step in teaching 
Grammar therefore is to communicate to pupils an 
idea of a sentence. To do this a teacher may ask his 
class to say something about a hook, a liorse, a bird ; 
and what they say he may write on the blackboard. 
These expressions and others like them they may 
be told are called sentences. The division of their 
reading lessons into sentences may be pointed out. 
In this manner children can learn to know simple 
sentences. Further practice should be given them 
in writing sentences about particular things, and in 
detecting combinations of words that do not form 
sentences. A sentence is a form of words contain- 
ing a proposition ; but such a definition would be 
quite out of place at this stage of progress. 

When pupils have learned to know simple sen- 
tences, they may begin the work of analyzing them, 
and the elements thus found must be classified and 
investigated. The system thus built up should pre- 
sent the principles of the language in a clear and 
logical manner. A sufiicient number of steps in 
this analysis will be presented to indicate to the 
thoughtful teacher the method by which the whole 
may be taught. 

The Subject. — The teacher may write such sen- 
tences upon the blackboard as birds fly, men work, 
fire burns, rain falls, &c. ; and call the attention of 
his class to the fact that in each of these sentences 
there is a word which represents a thing of which 
something is said. The pupils may then point out 
such words or forms of words in these and nume- 

22 



254 INSTRUCTION" IN LANGUAGE. 

rous other sentences, and learn that they are called 
subjects. They may be asked to name things of 
which something may be said, and to tell what can 
be said to run, fly, eat, work, &c. 

The Predicate. — In the same manner, it can be 
shown that sentences like those named in the pre- 
ceding examples contain words or forms of words 
that are used to say something of the subject. 
These are called Predicates. Pupils can be led to 
point them out in such sentences and in others. 
It is well also to give them practice in naming 
words which are used to say something of things, 
and to write on slate or blackboard what can be 
said of hoys, girls, horses, fishes, birds, &c. 

In miscellaneous exercises upon Subjects and Pre- 
dicates, a Subject can be given and the pupils re- 
quired to find suitable Predicates, or a Predicate 
can be given and the pupils required to supply 
suitable Subjects, thus: 



a; 



p%, 




Boys, 






Run, 




Girls, 






Walk, 




Horses, 






-D • A Eat, 
Required, 

^ Write, 




Required, ■^°^!' 
Birds, 






Read, 




Cattle, 




• ^ 


Talk, 




Men, 




O 


Laugh, 


&c. 


Women, 


&c. 





"When able to point out the Subject and Predicate 
in sentences, pupils may be told that the two taken 
together constitute a Proposition, and then be 
allowed to point out and to construct Propositions. 



GRAMMAE. 255 

Kinds of Subjects. — The attention of the pnpll 
should be called to lists of sentences printed in his 
Grammar-book or written on the blackboard like 
the following : John studies ; he studies ; to study is 
right; that he studies is certain. When fully com- 
prehending the ditierent kinds of Subjects, he may 
be told that the name of the first kind of Subject 
is IToun ; of the second, Pronoun ; of the third. 
Phrase ; and of the fourth, Clause. Finally, he must 
be allowed to point out the different kinds of 
Subjects in numerous examples, and to construct 
sentences containing any required form of Subject. 

If the teacher deem it proper, his pupils may now 
learn the nature of the Noun and Pronoun, their 
kinds and their properties. The manner of doing 
this has already been explained. The Phrase and 
Clause must be treated of when the pupil is prepared 
to understand them. 

KiXDS OF Predicates. — The kinds of Predicates 
can be taught in essentially the same manner as 
kinds of Subjects. The teacher must first present 
such sentences as: boi/s learn; they are to learn; 
Spring is pleasant; it is as I told him. It is unneces- 
sary to make more than two kinds of Predicates : 
first, the Verb simply ; and, second, the Verb with 
some added word, phrase or clause. The nature 
of the Copula may be explained. Much practice 
in pointing out and classifying Predicates, in sen- 
tences, and in constructing sentences to contain 
Predicates of a particular kind cannot be dispensed 
with. 

If not done before, the teacher may now make 



256 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

liis pupils acquainted with the nature of the Verb, 
its kinds, and the properties which belong to it. 

To the extent of the knowledge now acquired, 
pupils may engage with great profit in the exercises, 
beautiful when combined, of Analysis and Parsing. 
ISTumerous miscellaneous sentences must be provided 
for the purpose. 

Pupils may be taught also that Pronouns, when 
used as Subjects, are in the JSTominatiye Case, and 
have a particular form, and that ^ouns are said to 
be in the same Case when used in the same way. 
Verbs also agree with their subjects in ^Number 
and Person. Many sentences violating these princi- 
ples may be submitted to the pupils for correction. 

Adjective Elements. — A word or a form of words 
used to modify the meaning of the Subject is called 
an Adjective Element. The same name is applied 
to the words, phrases, and clauses which modify 
N"ouns and Pronouns in whatever relation they 
may be placed. The teacher should begin his in- 
struction by calling the attention of his class to sen- 
tences in which the Subject is modified by simple 
Adjectives, as: good hoys study ; pretty flowers grow^ 
&c. When they fully understand the nature of the 
Adjective Modification, it will not be very difficult 
to lead them to see the words and forms of words 
that perform similar offices in such sentences as fol- 
low : Ills hook is lost ; James, the caoyenter, huilt the 
house ; Johns finger is hurt ; a hook of j^oerns is on the 
tahle; the hoy who did not know his lesson is detained 
after school This done, and all that remains neces- 
sary is to allow full opportunity for practice in point- 



GEAMMAR. 257 

ing out these elements in sentences and constructing 
sentences containing them. Adjective elements 
admit division into classes ; but it requires the ap- 
plication of no special methods to teach them. 
Rules of Syntax relating to the correct use of the 
Adjective and Adjective element may now be given, 
and examples of sentences in which this part of 
speech is mcorrectly used, may be assigned for 
correction. 

Adverbial Elements. — A word or a form of Avords 
used to modify the meaning of the Predicate may 
be called an Adverbial Element. Adverbial Ele- 
ments should be classified and taught in the same 
manner as the Adjective Element; and repetition is 
deemed unnecessary. Rules for the construction of 
Adverbial Elements must not be overlooked. 

Nothing special need be said in reference to 
teaching the Preposition, Conjunction, and Interjection, 
as the offices they severally perform in sentences 
are easily detected, and readily illustrated. 

All that has been said is intended to apply to sim- 
ple Declarative sentences. At the proper time, 
other forms of sentences must be presented to the 
pupil, and he must be taught to trace their relations 
to the Declarative form. Phrases and Clauses must 
be carefully studied. The close analysis of Complex 
and Compound Sentences, and the classification of 
the elements thus found, the discussion of the idioms 
of our language, the changes in construction it has 
undergone, the relationship of thought and its ex- 
pression in words, general and special Philological 

22* 



258 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

laws, must complete a full course of instruction in 
Grammar. 

This discussion will be concluded with a summary 
of the general principles by which the teaching of 
Grammar should be governed, and which has guided 
the preceding discussion. 

1st. All Grammatical principles or rules should 
be deduced directly from sentences, or proven by 
reference to them. 

2d. The pupil should begin the study of Gram- 
mar by analyzing the simplest forms of simple sen- 
tences, and then proceed by safe gradations from 
the easy to the difficult. A sentence admits of a 
logical discussion only by descending from the gen- 
eral to the particular. A classification of sentences 
ascends from species to genera. 

3d. 'No definition or rule should be given that 
presupposes knowledge that the pupil does not pos- 
sess. The whole system should be logically con- 
nected, and introduce the pupil ta new principles 
just at the time he needs, and is prepared to under- 
stand them. 

4th. Rules of construction and government, with 
examples in False Syntax, should be taught in con- 
nection with the sentences or elements of sentences 
to which they relate. This principle, logically 
necessary, will be found of considerable practical 
advantage. 

5th. The Analysis of a sentence consists in find- 
ing its elements, or in reducing it to the Parts of 
Speech, of which it is composed. Parsing consists 
in finding out these Parts of Speech and determining 
their properties and relations. Both should be com- 



RHETORIC. 259 

bined, as is the case in similar operations in other 
sciences. The Botanist analyzes a plant, and then 
names and describes its several parts. The Anato- 
mist dissects a subject, and then characterizes the 
organs thus brought to his notice. Grammar can 
be studied successfully in no other way. Parsing, 
without a preceding analysis, can lead but to a very 
imperfect knowledge of the organic structure of 
sentences. 

6th. Grammatical knowledge should be applied 
throughout the whole course in the construction of 
sentences. Pupils should be allowed ample oppor- 
tunity of framing all the different kinds and varie- 
ties of sentences, and of embodying in them, all the 
elements of sentences, words, phrases, and clauses, 
in all their forms, and with all their modifications. 

7th. The study of the English language may be 
made to yield the same kind of culture that is 
derived from the study of the classical languages of 
Greece and Rome. To do this, several standard 
authors, or selections from many such authors, must 
be subjected to a critical examination as to the 
forms of sentences ; the location of the elements in 
sentences, their relations, and their fitness to express 
the thought intended ; and the origin, history, and 
meaning of words. 

Rhetoric. 

It is by no means easy to define the limits of the 
study of Rhetoric, or to fix its position among the 
sciences. There seems to be no general agreement 
among waiters respecting the ground which it should 
occupy. 



260 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

Logic treats of tlie laws of thought. These laws 
necessarily condition language. Grammar investi- 
gates them as they occur in sentences. But as all 
discourse is subject to logical conditions, there is 
room for a science which may be called the Science 
of discourse. Rhetoric, however, not only treats of 
the laws of thought as they appear in discourse, but 
likewise includes an application of the laws of taste. 
It is based upon the science of Logic, on the one 
hand, and Esthetics, on the other. It is also closely 
related to Grammar. 

Some writers deny to Rhetoric the rank of a sci- 
ence ; but since, in addition to the principles it 
embodies, that are found to grow out of the rela- 
tions which the diiferent parts of discourse sustain 
to one another, its rules are the generalizations 
of what experience has shown to be most effec- 
tive and pleasing in speaking and writing, it may, 
at least, as justly claim that rank as any Inductive 
Science. 

It would not be proper in this connection to speak 
of methods of teaching either Logic or Esthetics, 
notwithstanding they constitute the foundation upon 
which the superstructure of Rhetoric- is erected. 
Rhetoric, as presented in our books, treats of the 
several kinds of discourse, the qualities which expe- 
rience shows to be necessary in good writing and 
speaking, and the manner of arranging ideas and 
expressing them in language. Of methods of teach- 
ing Rhetoric, when thus considered, it is my pur- 
pose to speak. 

1. Kinds of Discourse. — It will be convenient to 



RHETORIC. 261 

coDsider first, discourse as classed with regard to form; 
and, second, as classed with regard to matter. 

Classed with regard to form, discourse presents 
two great divisions, viz. : Prose and Poetry. A dif- 
ference in form may not be the only difiTerence 
between prose and poetic composition ; but it is the 
most prominent. 

The leading divisions of prose composition are 
Orations, Lectures, Essays, Theses, Fictio7is, Narratives, 
and Letters. Several of these classes of composition 
admit of subdivisions. 

The leading divisions of poetic composition are 
Epic, Lyric, Pastoral, Dramatic, Didactic, and Satiric 
Poetry. The form of Poetry differs also according 
to the versification. 

Classed with regard to matter, discourse may be 
Novel, Witty, Humorous, Satirical, Sublime, and Beau- 
tiful. Or from another point of view, discourse is 
Explanatory, Argumentative, Pathetic, or Persuasive, 
according as it narrates-or describes, argues, appeals 
to the feelings, or attempts to move the will. 

The teacher's whole duty to his pupils, in acquaint- 
ing them with the different kinds of discourse, may 
be expressed in three words, describe, define, and 
illustrate. Each kind of discourse must be carefully 
described, the general terms made use of must be 
defined, and the whole must be impressed upon the 
pupil's mind by numerous, appropriate illustrations. 

2. Qualities which Characterize well Con- 
structed Discourse. — All well constructed discourse 
must be characterized by Purity, Propriety, Precision, 
Perspicuity, Strength, Euphony, Harmony, and Unity. 



262 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

In teaching, pupils must first be led to see what 
is meant by these qualities. Many examples of each 
should be exhibited to them. It will be greatly to 
their advantage if extracts from authors, faulty in 
respect to these qualities, be presented to them for 
correction. 

3. Arrangement and Style of Discourse. — The 
invention of ideas, or, more properly, the obtaining 
of ideas, does not properly belong to the Science of 
Rhetoric. Ideas are furnished by investigations 
concerning the subject-matter of other sciences. 
Rhetoric treats only of the arrangement of these 
ideas, and the style in which they should be 
expressed. 

By the arrangement of discourse is meant the 
selection of suitable matter, and its proper distribu- 
tion. Out of the multitude of facts, arguments, 
incidents, illustrations, which may be presented on 
a particular subject, it is important to be able to 
judge what should be chosen, and in what order 
the selected matter should be arranged. Orations, 
according to the method of the ancients, and the 
practice is quite similar now, were divided, into 
the Exo7^dium, Narration, Proposition, Discussion, and 
Peroration. 

In other kinds of discourse, little more has been 
done by Rhetoricians than to name the principal 
parts, viz. : the Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. 
Pupils, however, must not be allowed to conclude 
from this that the matter of books, lectures, poems, 
dramas, fictions, any kind of composition, indeed, can 
be thrown together in confused fragments. IlTothing 



EHETOKIC. 263 

can be more important than the arrangement of the 
matter of discourse, and the teacher should submit 
many well-written compositions of different kinds 
to his pupils that they may carefully analyze them 
in this respect. iTot that pupils should be trained 
to a slavish imitation of any author; but that 
they may see in a concrete form what has proved 
itself pleasing and effective, and profit by this ex- 
perience. 

By style is meant the manner of expression in 
language. The style of an author or speaker must 
vary according to his individual peculiarities, and 
the circumstances which surround him ; but Rheto- 
ricians have made several divisions, according to 
the degree of ornament used, as follows: the Dry, 
Plain, Neat, JElegant, and Florid; according to the 
structure of the sentences, the Simple and Labored, 
and the Concise and Diffuse ; and, according to the 
effect produced upon the hearer, the Nervous and 
Feeble. Under the head of Style, too, may be dis- 
cussed the various kinds of Figures used in dis- 
course. The teacher will find this a pleasant 
department of the subject to present to his pupils ; 
but will have no need to depart from the method 
of teaching indicated in the preceding divisions of 
the subject. 

The discussion of the subject will be concluded 
by presenting a few additional observations. 

A course of study in English . Literature should 
follow one in Rhetoric. Selections from different 
authors may be arranged chronologically; but all 
should be closely analyzed with reference to kind, 
qualities, arrangement, and style. Such an exercise 



264 INSTEUCTION IN LANGUAGR. 

might be called Ehetorical Parsing, and its value 
if well conducted would be very great. 

Pupils should be expected to observe the princi- 
ples of Rhetoric in all their writing and speaking. 
It is taken for granted that Rhetoric is studied not 
only to be known but to be used. Indeed, it 
can scarcely be fully known without being used. 
Hence, in all recitations, the attention of pupils ■ 
should be called to faults in Rhetoric. A good reci-- 
tation consists not alone in giving correctly all thei 
facts and principles of the lesson, but in making the 
most appropriate arrangement of them and express- 
ing them in the best language. | 

In learning Rhetoric, it is not enough for pupils 
to study the compositions of others ; they must com- 
pose themselves. They must be patiently trained 
to exemplify in their own writing and speaking all 
that has given value to the writing and speaking of 
others. The end of the study of Rhetoric is not 
chiefly to acquire the power of describing how skil- 
ful authors write and speak, but to be able to write 
and speak well ourselves ; and no effective teaching 
of this science is possible without allowing ample 
opportunity for this kind of practice. 

A teacher of Rhetoric ought to be a literary ama- 
teur. Without a love for literature himself he can- 
not make his pupils love it. Without literary taste 
himself, he cannot cultivate the literary tastes of 
his pupils. Ordinary teaching skill may suffice to 
make known the facts and rules of Rhetoric ; but 
nature does not open her beauties here, nor any- 
where, unless bidden by a loving heart. 



philology. 265 

Philology. 

The word Philology is used here to denote the 
Bcience which treats of the origin and growth of 
language, or, in other words, its N"atural History. 
Up to this point, language has heen spoken of as a 
ready-formed instrument with which pupils desire 
to become acquainted, and methods of teaching how 
to read and understand it as such have been dis- 
cussed. But a few remarks will show that it may 
be studied from another stand-point. 

Language is itself a growth — a product evoked 
from human wants and evolved from human reason. 
It is concrete thought. God gave man reason and 
the power of speech, and he produced language. 
This growth of words was governed both in its 
origin and progress by certain laws. There are 
principles by which the forms and rules of Grammar 
can be accounted for. A language is not learned 
when we know its declensions, conjugations, and 
laws of construction, for the causes of these may be 
investigated. Words even do not arbitrarily change 
their pronunciation, orthography, or meaning. 'New 
words are introduced into a language, old ones 
drop out of it, and causes are ever at work chang- 
ing its form and constructions, and the mere Gram- 
marian who studies language as it is, or the mere 
Historian who notes these word-revolutions, may 
renlain in ignorance of the subtle forces that 
ceaselessly operate to adapt human speech to the 
condition and wants of men. 

Philology, if now properly apprehended, has the 
character of an 'Historical Science, with its facts and 

23 



266 iNSTKucTiox IN language: 

its philosophy, and as such, methods of teaching it 
belong elsewhere. They will be found to combine 
methods of teaching applicable to all the other 
sciences. 

III. Learning to Compose in our Mother-Tongue. 

Composition may be defined as the art of com- 
bining ideas and expressing them in words ; or it 
may be called the art of speaking and writing. It 
is founded upon the sciences of Grammar and 
Rhetoric. 

Without insisting that it is strictly philosophical, 
the following division of our intellectual faculties 
may be made : those by which we gain knowledge ; 
those by which we elaborate it into systems ; and 
those by which what we know is reproduced. The 
first class may be called the Perceptive faculties; 
the second, the Reflective faculties ; and the third, 
the Expressive faculties. A perfect mind would 
possess the power of obtaining the material of 
knowledge, the power of working up this material 
into mind-products, and the power of conveying 
these mind-products back to the world without, in 
co-equal strength. As good reasons, therefore, can 
be given for the cultivation of the Expressive 
powers — the powers of speech, as for the cultiva- 
tion of any other class of powers which men possess. 
Our intellectual light must not be hid under a 
bushel any more than our moral light. Writing 
and speaking are the candle-sticks by which this 
light is distributed about the world. 

Besides,^ so closely connected is our mental ma- 
chinery that we even use words in thinking, and 



compositio:n". 267 

facility in iising tliem consequently promotes think- 
ing. 

The art of Composition may be learned, either by 
imitating the speaking and writing of others, or by 
applying the rules of Grammar and Rhetoric. Such 
a knowledge of Composition as can be obtained by the 
Urst method may be called Elementary Composition ; 
and that obtained by the second, Higher Composition. 

1. Elementary Composition. — A child is taking 
his first lessons in Composition when he begins to 
talk. If he enjoy the opportunity of hearing good 
language, a child at ^lyq years of age, will possess 
a large fund of words, he can construct them into 
sentences, and hold intelligible conversation about 
objects with which he is familiar. If at that age 
he be taught the written symbols which represent 
words, he will soon learn to write words, sentences, 
and little compositions about things he has seen. 
This is the manner in which the teaching of Com- 
position should be commenced. As the child 
enlarges his vocabulary of words, notices a greater 
variety of sentences, and acquaints himself with 
more numerous objects, his ability to speak and 
write will become greater, and his instruction in 
Composition should be adapted to his increased 
capacity. Up to the age of ten or twelve, instruc- 
tion in Composition should consist mainly in pre- 
senting pupils suitable models of speaking and 
writing for imitation, and in giving them ample 
opportunity to imitate them. Much in the art of 
Composition can be learned in this way at any age, 
but nearly all must be learned in this way in child- 



268 ITTSTEUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

hood. In teaching Composition to children, teachers 
ought not to be too critical — ought not to expect 
great accuracy or much elegance in expression. 
Their principal aim should be to evoke linguistic 
power ; and when the power exists, it is time to 
acquaint them with the niceties of Grammar and 
Rhetoric. You must have the stream, before you 
can make its waters play about your grounds or 
sparkle in your fountains. There is nothing about 
which we are more sensitive than our speaking and 
writing, and teachers may do great harm to their 
young pupils by expecting too much from them. 

Some lessons, well calculated to aid pupils in ex- 
pressing their ideas in words, were described in the 
Chapter relating to Elementary Instruction, and 
they need not now be repeated. It is enough to 
indicate a few classes of appropriate exercises, and 
the intelligent 'teacher can expand them to any de- 
sirable extent. 

First Class of Exercises. — The teacher may engage 
his young pupils in conversation about things with 
respect to which he knows they feel an interest; 
such as, horses, whips, fishing, harvest-time, sleigh- 
riding, &c., &c. The discipline in language obtained 
from lessons on objects as previously described is 
very valuable. 

Second Class of Exercises. — Pupils may be taught 
to give in their own language the substance of their 
reading lessons. Attention should be paid in all 
recitations to the language used. All erroneous ex- 
pressions must be carefully corrected. 



COMPOSITION^. 269 

Tliird Class of Exercises. — Pupils may be required 
to write sentences about things ; as, house^ table, hall, 
&c., &c. ; or a word or several w^ords can be given 
to be incorporated into sentences ; as, hook, heauti- 
ful, strange; school-girls and rain; hoy, mother, and 
cake; man, axe, and wood, &c., &c. Some good ex- 
ercises may be found in Sheldon's "Elementary 
Instruction/' commencing at page 220. 

Fourth Class of Exercises. — The teacher may pre- 
sent certain forms of sentences and require his pu- 
pils to imitate them. Writing from dictation with 
attention to forms of sentences, punctuation, capital 
letters, &c., is valuable. Pupils acquire the graces 
of style unconsciously upon reading or copying well- 
written composition. 

Fifth Glass of Exercises. — Lists of faulty sentences 
may be kept by the teacher, and now^ and then pre- 
sented to the pupils for correction. Quite young 
children can be taught to point out the errors in 
lauge numbers of such sentences. Something can 
also be done in this w^ay to train pupils to habits of 
correct speaking. 

Sixth Class of Exercises. — The teacher may read 
striking narratives, interesting sketches, or lively 
descriptions, and require his pupils to reproduce 
them in their own language. This is an excellent 
exercise. 

Seventh Class of Exercises. — At the age of eight or 
nine years, the teacher may begin to assign subjects 

23^ 



270 ixsTRUCTio:^ in language. 

upon which his pupils are expected to write original 
composition. These subjects ought to be simple, 
calculated to interest the writers, and to furnish 
them an opportunity of telling something they know 
as well as of finding something to tell. The teacher 
should assign the subject, and may make sugges- 
tions as to the matter and form of the composition. 
Every child can say something about snow^ flowerSy 
birds, hay-mahing, Jmsking-corn, gathering nuts, going to 
school, &c., &c. ; if not about progress, government, the 
grandeur of nature's works, or the immortality of the soul. 
The preceding exercises will convey an idea of the 
manner in which children may be taught to com- 
pose, and further detail is deemed unnecessary. It 
may be remarked, however, that children should 
have daily practice in writing. It might, perhaps, 
be done in connection with reading lessons. J^o 
labored essays could be expected, but they would 
acquire the power of thinking and of saying what 
they think. What if the work thus done be crude 
and wanting in order, it would at least be original, 
fresh, and childlike. Great harm is done to children 
by giving them time and opportunity to resort to 
books and to older persons for help in writing com- 
positions. Let them learn to write, as they talk, 
naturally. It is time those unmeaning forms of 
words, half nonsense, half plagiarized, called compo- 
sitions, should be banished from the school. 

2. Higher Composition. — The principal aim of 
instruction in Elementary Composition is to bring 
pupils to notice forms of expression, and to imitate 
them in writing freely and naturally what they 



COMPOSITION. 271 

think and feel. Ability 'to compose having been 
thus acquired, the rules of Grammar and Rhetoric 
must now be applied to induce the additional power 
of composing correctly and elegantly ; or the pupil 
must enter upon a course of study in language 
which I have called Higher Composition. This 
course may be commenced at the age of ten or 
twelve. 

It will be remembered that the methods of teach- 
Grammar, considered the best, required pupils to 
exemplify every principle learned, in the construc- 
tion of original sentences. Pupils thus taught, 
while learning the science of Grammar, will learn 
the art of Composition so far as Grammatical prin- 
ciples aid in the formation of sentences. 

It will also be remembered that in treating of 
Rhetoric, it was stated that pupils should not merely 
study the compositions of others, but that they must 
have much practice in writing exercises in which 
they should be required to observe every principle 
learned. Such exercises would furnish a fine oppor- 
tunity of learning to compose, from the forming of 
a sentence or the use of a figure to the construction 
of an oration or the writing of a poem. 

If these views are correct. Grammar and Compo- 
sition, and Rhetoric and Composition, should be 
taught together; and every suitable Grammatical 
and Rhetorical lesson should be followed immedi- 
ately by a lesson in Composition. The manner of 
doing this is so obvious that there is no need of 
further illustration. It might be remarked, how- 
ever, that the systematic correction of sentences, or 
more general discourse, which violates the rules of 



272 I^TSTRUOTIOX IN LANGUAGE. 

Grammar or Ehetoric belongs appropriately to 
Composition. Science systematizes the true, art 
detects the false. Many pages of such exercises are 
not too much to furnish pupils with the practice 
they need. To be a good writer one must be a 
good critic both of his own productions, and the 
productions of others. 

E'ot only in connection with Grammar and Ehet- 
oric should Composition be studied, but such in- 
struction should be given in connection with all 
studies. Pupils either write or speak when they 
recite, and it is always the teacher's duty to see that 
they speak and write well. Each exercise may thus 
be made to furnish valuable practice in writing and 
speaking. 

Some useful exercises may be mentioned which 
are not usually found in works on Grammar or 
Rhetoric, such as paraphrasing; expressing senti- 
ments in various forms; abridging diffuse com- 
positions and amplifying concise ones; writing 
criticisms; and making analyses of orations, lectures, 
essays, or preparing outlines for such productions. 
Translating from a foreign language into our own 
or the reverse, gives discipline in all that relates to 
the use of language, hardly to be obtained in any 
other way. Taste in composing is greatly improved 
by reading good books, and by copying well-written 
productions. 

In addition to a systematic course of instruction 
in Composition, as above indicated, teachers will 
find it advantageous with advanced pupils, at least, 
to have at stated times miscellaneous exercises in 
preparing and reading original compositions. I 



COMPOSITION. 273 

propose to answer the following questions concern- 
ing these exercises : At what times should such 
exercises be required ? "Who should assign the sub- 
jects? What should be the nature of the subjects 
assigned ? In what manner shall the compositions 
be corrected? How ought the recitation to be 
conducted ? 

The work now had in view will require research 
and labor on the part of the student. It is not an 
example or an illustration that is wanted, but a 
systematically arranged composition, carefully pre- 
pared both as regards matter and manner. If pupils 
are engaged at the same time in the study of other 
branches, and have proper instruction in the details 
of composing in connection with their Grammar 
and Ehetoric lessons, the special exercises now 
referred to cannot very well be performed more 
frequently than once a week, if so often. 

To give definite direction to a pupil's thoughts, 
to adapt the task to his capacity and requirements, 
and to remove from him as far as possible all temp- 
tation to plagiarize, it will generally be found best 
for the teacher to assign the subjects for composi- 
tion, even to classes of advanced pupils. 

The nature of the subject selected for a composi- 
tion should be adapted to the pupil's capacity, re- 
quirements, and taste. In selecting a series of 
subjects, they should be chosen with reference to 
their fitness to furnish practice in composing differ- 
ent kinds of discourse and using different varieties 
of style. They should be such also as would be 
calculated to call forth the knowledge pupils have, 
or prompt them to search diligently for that which 



274 iNSTKUCTio^r in language. 

tliey have not. But while care is taken to train, 
equal care must be taken not to cramp. An ex- 
uberant flow of words in youth is a better indication 
of success in writing than a more correct, but. more 
formal, style. Let the imagination of the young 
have free scope ; do not cut out and trim oiF too 
much. Value most of all a spontaneous out- 
pouring of intellect, or a spontaneous out-gushing 
of feeling. 

Teachers must inspect the compositions written 
by their pupils ; but it will be found better merely 
to point out the errors they may discover than to 
correct them. If pupils are required to correct 
their own errors, they will be more careful not to 
make them; and, besides, the principle violated will 
be more strongly impressed upon their minds. 
The teacher must have some marks to indicate 
errors. For words incorrectly used or misspelled, 
wrong punctuation, or errors of any kind involv- 
ing only a single word or mark, a short, perpen- 
dicular line may be drawn through the word or 
mark with respect to which the error occurs, and 
attention be called to it in the margin by an i|@°". 
In case the error extends to several words, a sen- 
tence, or several sentences, the whole may be under- 
scored, and attention called to it as before. More 
general errors as to style and arrangement can be 
best corrected at the recitation. 

How ought a recitation to be conducted ? Each 
pupil should write the errors which were pointed 
out by the teacher, upon the blackboard, together 
with the corrections made by himself. Each pupil 
should also read his composition ; and, then, his 



THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 275 

whole work may become the subject of criticism, 
first by the class, and afterwards by the teacher. 

II. Instruction in the Dead Languages. 

The only Dead Languages that are taught to any 
great extent in our schools are the Latin and Greek, 
and special reference will be had in this Article to 
methods of teaching these languages, although the 
methods indicated will be found applicable to all 
languages belonging to the same class. The prom- 
inent place the languages of Greece and Rome 
have occupied in every liberal course of study would 
be a sufficient reason, if no other could be given, 
why some discussion of the methods of teaching 
these languages should be introduced into a work 
like the present one. 

In regard to the benefits derived from the study 
of the Dead Languages, three opinions are enter- 
tained: first, that all other studies are less impor- 
tant than that of Latin and Greek, and that conse- 
quently the learning of these languages should 
occupy the most prominent place and the greatest 
portion of time in every liberal course of study ; 
second, that the time now spent in the study of the 
Dead Languages might be employed to much better 
purpose in obtaining a more complete knowledge 
of our own language and the various sciences ; and, 
third, that the study of Latin and Greek ought to 
occupy an important place in a course of study, but 
that school-time should be fairly proportioned be- 
tween the several great departments of instruction, 
and that Collegiate and University honors ought 
not to be based upon proficiency in Latin and Greek 



276 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

any more tlian upon proficiency in other branches of 
learning. 

The first of these opinions gives undue promi- 
nence to the study of the Dead Languages; the 
second wholly discards their study ; and the third 
occupies a middle.ground between the two extremes, 
and, while holding that Latin and Greek are not 
indispensable in a liberal course of study, still main- 
tains that they are valuable auxiliaries in the work 
of education. 

In supporting the last named of these opinions, 
the reasons will appear why it is considered that 
both of the other opinions are erroneous. That 
there are branches of instruction other than those 
of Latin and Greek which are worthy of careful 
study, will be generally conceded — conceded even 
by those whose practice does not correspond with 
their theory. Mathematics, !N"atural Science, Men- 
tal Philosophy, General Literature, History, the 
Modern Languages, and other branches of learning 
should not be omitted from a comprehensive course 
of study, and, as will be seen in the proper place, 
all of them furnish classes of facts and kinds of 
culture quite different from those derived from the 
study of the Dead Languages. Our duties as men 
of business and citizens-may not be learned as well 
from the study of Latin and Greek as from some 
other studies, and this end of utihty in study can- 
not be ignored in teaching. 

The cause of education, however, is most likely 
to suffer detriment in this country, at this time, not 
from those who favor classical studies too much, 
but from those who oppose them altogether. The 



THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 277 

danger is not now great anywhere that Latin and 
Greek will absorb too much of the pupil's time and 
attention ; but there are persons everywhere who 
attach little value to the study of these languages. 
As might be expected from the utilitarian character 
of our people, America has her full share of these 
advocates for the abandonment of the study of La- 
tin and Greek, and the substitution in their place 
of other branches which are supposed to bear a 
closer relation to the work of the office, the shop, 
and the farm. In such circumstances, it may be 
well to state the principal advantages which may 
be derived from the study of the classical languages. 

1. The study of Latin and Greek assists in the study 
of our own Language. — The English language, 
through the medium of the ISTorman-French and 
otherwise, derives at least one-half of all its words 
from the Latin. Almost all our scientific terms are 
of Latin or Greek origin, and no one who is unac- 
quainted with these languages, can read a work on 
Law, Medicine, Theology, Teaching, or upon any 
science or art, without feeling sad!}'' the want of such 
knowledge. The close analysis of an English 
author, such as Milton, is hardly possible for one 
who is unacquainted with Latin. The finer beauties 
and more hidden laws which characterize such a 
work can only be fully appreciated by the classical 
scholar. 

2. The study of Latin and Greek assists in under- 
standing the Character of the People who spoke them. — 
The chai-acter of the Greeks and Romans is well 

24 



278 INSTRUCTION IN" LANGUAGE. 

worthy our study. Few nations have done so much 
that will live in History. The language of a people 
is closely related to its thought. In its languge, as 
in a mirror, is reflected back an image of what a 
nation has thought and felt. ]^ot even in the re- 
mains of their Sculpture and Painting, not even in 
their stupendous ruins, their Parthenons and their 
Colosseums, do the people of Greece and Eome 
represent themselves so perfectly as in the Poems, 
the Orations, the Histories and the Dramas, that 
have been preserved from the general destruction 
that overwhelmed them. Their noble languages 
are the richest legacy they could have left us, for in 
their study we may learn to sympathize with the 
master-spirits of the past, catch some of their inspira- 
tion, and commune with the sentiment which they 
embalmed in words that remain fresh midst the 
lapse of centuries. 

3. The study of the Latin and CrreeJc assists in ob- 
taining a Knowledge of the History of the Romans and 
Greeks. — There were both Greek and Roman His- 
torians of great celebrity, i^o translation can do 
them justice. They must be read to be appreciated. 
Besides, what these classic nations of antiquity ac- 
complished best appears in the works of their Poets, 
Orators, Dramatists, and Philosophers ; and no one 
has ever acquired the ability to read these books 
that did not acknowledge himself amply repaid for 
all his time and trouble. 

4. The study of Latin and Greek furnishes very 
good Intellectual Discipline. — A recitation in Latin or 



THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 279 

Greek, when well conclucted, gives exercise to the 
memory, the judgment, and the reason. IS^o better 
culture for the intellectual faculties can be found 
than that which comes from making nice discrimina- 
tions between the meaning of words ; carefully com- 
paring constructions ; earnestly searching the under- 
lying thought in one language and the fit words to 
express it in another ; and closely studying the 
modifications and relations amoi^g words, phrases, 
and clauses. It is not maintained that there are not 
other valuable means of intellectual discipline. The 
polished Greek himself probably obtained his cul- 
ture without the study of language other than his 
own. But it is claimed that the disciplinary advan- 
tages of the study of Latin and Greek have stood 
the test of centuries, and nothing has been found 
that can be safely used to supercede them. The 
amount of practical knowledge gained from the 
study of the Classics may not be equal to that which 
can be gained in the same time from other sources ; 
but the grand end of study is to increase mental 
power, to give general efiiciency ; and no way has 
been found better suited to the ac(?omplishment of 
this end than the thorough study of the noble 
languages of Greece and Rome. 

5. The study of Latin and Greek furnishes fine 
j^sthetic Culture. — l^o one can enter into the spirit 
of the classic authors without experiencing a refine- 
ment of his taste, and a more exalted flow of im- 
agination. Relieved of whatever might have been 
gross, through the pages of Homer and Plato, 
Yirgil and Cicero, the classic lands of Greece and 



280 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

Home reveal themselves to tlie student as pictures 
of surpassing beauty. They become liis beau-icleals. 
He rises up from the sphere of the sensual as he 
contemplates them, and revels amid the ideal beau- 
ties of a world of purer thought and nobler senti- 
ment. The classic scholar is known by his nice 
discriminations, his exact taste, his true sense of the 
beautiful, his lofty aspirations, his responsive thrill 
of emotion in witnessing whatever is manly and 
right in human conduct. 

Several different methods of teaching Latin and 
Greek have been practiced. Before attempting a 
classification or an exposition of them, it will be 
well to determine the definite ends for which these 
lano-uao-es should be studied. 

Latin and Greek are not now studied for the pur- 
pose of acquiring ability to speak and write them. 
There was a time in the history of the principal 
countries of Europe when books were generally 
written in Latin, and the deliberations of ecclesi- 
astical councils and learned assemblies were carried 
on in the same language ; but that day has passed 
never to return. There were during the same 
period, and perhaps later, institutions of learning 
that required their students to dress up their poor 
ideas in the stately flow of what was meant for 
Ciceronian eloquence. Cicero's forms of expression, 
his very words, were committed with great labor 
and then servilely imitated. But even if this efibrt 
to acquire the ability to speak and write Latin was 
proper then, it is so no longer. Luleed, it is gener- 
ally admitted by critics that no other than a Eoman 



THE DEAD LAXGUAGES. 281 

ever mastered the Latin language so perfectly as to 
speak and write it like Cicero or Yirgil ; and what 
Lipsius, Scaliger, and Milton, after many years of 
study, and with more inducements than exist at 
present, failed to accomplish, it is scarcely worth 
while for others, less gifted, and enjo^dng fewer 
advantages for such study, to undertake. Exer- 
cises in Latin and Greek composition are required 
wherever these languages are taught, but mainly 
for the purpose of fixing in the pupil's mind Gram- 
matical forms and constructions. It is well known 
that the poems and orations written in Latin and 
Greek, and sometimes delivered at our college 
commencements, are at best but poor imitations. 
Besides, if ability to speak and write Latin and 
Greek with classic elegance could be acquired, the 
time and labor would be misspent. The Dead Lan- 
guages, therefore, are not studied for the purpose 
of acquiring ability to speak and write them. 

The purpose for which the Latin and Greek are 
studied, is to be able to read them, to obtain the 
rich stores of knowledge which they lock up, and 
to secure the disciplinary advantages which may be 
derived from their study. To accomplish these 
ends, spoken and written exercises may be used 
as means, but not as ends themselves. 

If these views are true, it follows that the Dead 
Languages must be taught in a manner quite differ- 
ent from that applicable to Living Foreign Lan- 
guages, inasmuch as the main purpose in learning 
the latter, is to acquire ability to speak and write 
them. 

With a distinct object in view which is intended 

24* 



282 I^TSTRUCTION IISJ- LANGUAGE. 

to be accomplished by the study of Latin and Greek, 
it will be more easy to classify and define the 
methods by which that object can be attained. 

With respect to our Mother-tongue, we first learn 
to speak it, next we acquire the power to read it, 
and finally study to know the laws which govern 
its forms and constructions. Pupils learning a Dead 
Language, may commence at any one of these points ; 
and, hence, there may be three general methods of 
teaching such a language. These methods may be 
called, respectively : 1st, The method that commences 
hy teaching pupils to speak the language; 2d, The 
method that commences hy teaching pupils to read the 
language; and, 3d, The method that commences hy 
teaching pupils the Cframmar of the language. There 
have been practiced many particular methods, some- 
times named after the teachers who used them ; but 
I think it will be found that all of them are embraced 
in the preceding classification. 

1. The llethod that commences hy teaching Pupils to 
speak Latin or Greek. — A native language is learned 
by associating certain verbal utterances with things 
or ideas. The child in learning to talk first hears 
particular names applied to particular things, forms 
an association between the names and the things, 
and finally, acquires the power of imitating the 
names. The children of Rome and Greece found 
no more difficulty in learning to speak Latin and 
Greek than English children do in learning English. 
If children now anywhere could hear these languages 
spoken, they could readily learn them. The cele- 
brated Montaigne had a private tutor who spoke no 



THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 283 

language in his hearing but Latin, and he learned 
to speak and read that language with considerable 
facility by the time he was seven years of age. At 
the present day, it is impracticable to study the 
Dead Languages in this way ; and, if otherwise, it 
has been shown elsewhere that it would require the 
sacrifice of a great amount of time and labor to do so. 

2. The Method that commences hy teaching Pupils to 
read Latin or Greeh. — Some teachers have taught 
their pupils to read the Dead Languages by having 
them read, first words, next simple sentences, after- 
wards sentences more difficult, and finally general 
discourse. Of course the meaning of the words 
must be learned either from the teacher or the 
book. This is substantially the method by which 
children learn to read their vernacular language ; 
and, while it is admitted that the method can be 
applied to any language, it is denied that it would 
furnish that intimate acquaintance with the nature 
of the language studied, and that higher intellectual 
and sesthetic culture which is the main end of classi- 
cal study. If it be said that a knowledge of Latin 
or Greek Grammar can be obtained after learning 
to read those languages, it may be replie<i that 
in such a case the reading of authors must be very 
superficial, a second reading after the study of the 
Grammar would have to follow the first, and the 
whole work would require much unnecessary time 
and labor. 

Some teachers, too, instead of commencing with 
words, place in the hands of their pupils an easy, 
classical author, accompanied with a literal, inter- 



284 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

linear translatioi]i, and expect them by this means 
to learn the meaning of words, the construction of 
sentences, and finally the sense of what they read. 
It is claimed that Hamilton and others had great 
success in teaching Latin according to this method ; 
but it is evident that the same objections apply to 
it as to the preceding method. It may be a speedy 
way of acquiring the ability to read a language 
superficially, but it cannot be the best method of 
obtaining a thorough knowledge of it. 

Other teachers select sentences from which par- 
ticular Grammatical forms or principles can be de- 
duced, teach their pupils to read them, and make 
them draw the required inferences and learn them 
in the form usually found in Grammar books. This 
method is Analytical, and as applied to one's native 
language, the best ; but in regard to the study of 
the Dead Languages, it is defective in supposing the 
pupil can have a form of words or a sentence in his 
mind which he so well understands as to be able to 
anatyze it. A Latin or a Greek sentence is at first 
wholly unintelligible to a learner, and its meaning 
can only be determined by the Lexicographic and 
Grammatical explanation of the single words wdiich 
compose it. The meaning of each word in a sentence 
must be learned separately, and then in its relations 
to the other w^orcls with which it is used, before 
a clear idea of the meaning of the whole can be 
obtained. In teaching a language spoken by the 
learners, the method must be analytical; but in 
teaching one which they cannot speak, the method 
must be at first synthetical. A teacher of Latin 
and Greek must therefore begin with words ; and 



THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 285 

in connection with an explanation of their meaning, 
he will find it greatly promotive of his object, if he 
acquaint his pupils with various Etymological forms 
which distinguish them as individual words, and the 
various Syntactical law^s which control their place 
and relations in sentences. When ability to read a 
Dead Language has been acquired, no exercise can 
be more beneficial than the analysis of sentences. 

3. The MetJiod that commences hy teaching the Latin 
or G-reeh Grammar. — In teaching according to this 
method, the pupil first learns the meaning and forms 
of shiiple words and the principles of Grammar 
which have been found by preceding analyses of 
Latin or Greek composition, and finally applies this 
knowledge in discovering the sense and beauty of 
classic authors. This process is similar to the man- 
ner in which a native language is learned in com- 
mencing with single words ; but it differs from it 
wholly in commencing wdth words which represent 
Etymological forms and Grammatical principles. 
It was previously remarked that a person might 
learn to read any language w^ithout a knowledge of 
its Grammar ; but it must be evident to any one 
competent to judge that an acquaintance with the 
forms of words and the laws of construction inci- 
dent to such languages as the Latin and Greek, 
must greatly facilitate the work of understanding 
them. It is my opinion therefore that the first book 
which should be placed in a pupil's hands who de- 
sires to study a Dead Language is the Grammar — 
not an analytical Grammar as if the pupil already 
understood the meaning of sentences and was pre- 



286 INSTEUCTIOJT IN LANGUAGE. 

pared to gather facts and to infer principles, from 
them, but a Synthetical Grammar in which he 
will first find definitions, paradigms, and rules, and 
afterwards learn their significance in discourse. 

It was formerly customary to require pupils to 
commit the whole Grammar, before being led to 
make an application of any of its principles, or 
being taught to observe how they might be illus- 
trated by reference to sentences. J^othing could be 
less interesting to a child than the task of learning 
the senseless jargon (to himj of hie — lisec — hoe and 
6 — v; — TO ; and no word here said must be construed 
to mean anything in favor of such a method. I 
think, indeed, that the pupil should commence his 
study of the Dead Languages with the Grammar, 
but not with a Grammar book that contains nothing 
but dry forms and abstract principles. 

The method of Studying Latin and Greek now 
presented, requires the pupil to commit Declensions, 
Conjugations, and rules; but it contemplates the 
accompanying of all such lessons with practical 
exercises calculated to enforce and enliven them. Li 
detail, the proposed lessons might consist, first, of 
the forms or rules to be committed to memory; 
second, of sentences in which these forms or rules 
are illustrated ; third, other sentences in which the 
principle of the lesson is violated ; fourth, the con- 
struction of original sentences that conform to the 
principles of the lesson. At the recitation, these 
exercises should be properly varied, and given some- 
times orally, and sometimes in writing. ]!!Tumerous 
miscellaneous exercises, intended for review, should 
be distributed among them. With a book arranged 



THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 287 

upon a plan like this, an ingenious teacher cannot 
fail to make the study of the Grammar of any of 
the Dead Languages interesting. 

What has been just said has reference to methods 
of teaching the elements of the Dead Languages. 
There is, of course, a higher department of Gram- 
mar which investigates the changes these languages 
have undergone, accounts for their forms, and 
reveals the great Philological laws which govern 
their constructions. Into this inviting field, the 
student, who is able, may enter ; and it will be 
found that, if the Grammar is the proper book with 
which to begin a course of instruction in the Dead 
Languages, it is also the proper book with which to 
end it. 

Having completed an elementary course in the 
Grammar, the pupil is prepared, in connection with 
further study of the Grammar, to commence the 
reading of authors in the language studied. Of 
these the teacher must make a'judicious selection. 
Those works should be chosen which are the purest 
in sentiment, the most varied in style, and the best 
calculated to give culture to the taste, and impart 
information concerning the times in which they 
were produced. A student may read the whole 
work of an author or a part of it ; but his course of 
reading should leave him ignorant of no writer who 
is distinguished in classic literature. 

Some general directions may be given for conduct- 
ing a recitation in the reading of a classical author. 

1. Pupils should be required to give both free 
and literal translations ; the purpose of the latter 



288 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

being to obtain a clear insight into the sense of what 
is read, and that of the former to find appropriate 
English expression^ for it. The practice of trans- 
lating selections from Latin or Greek authors into 
English, and afterwards translating the same back 
again into Latin or Greek without reference to the 
original text, is very valuable. By means of this 
kind of double translation, Ascham says. Queen 
Elizabeth became one of the best Latin and Greek 
scholars of the age in which she lived. 

2. Pupils should be required to explain the 
Etymological, Syntactical, Prosodiacal, Rhetorical, 
and Logical principles contained in the text. From 
this source comes much of the most valuable cul- 
ture that is furnished by the study of the Dead 
Languages. The pupil must prepare his lessons 
with Grammars and Dictionaries open before him, 
and the teacher must lead him to see the great laws 
that regulate general human speech as they appear 
in the particular language studied. 

3. Pupils should be required to account- for the 
Geographical, Scientific, Historical, Mythological, 
and other like allusions and references that may 
occur in the lessons recited. Most pupils studying 
the Dead Languages soon acquire a deep interest in 
matter of this kind, and books containing such 
information should be to them a vade mecum. 

A few additional suggestions will be made. 
Constant use should be made of the blackboard 
in teaching the Dead Languages. This form of 



LIVING FOEEIGN LANGUAGES. 289 

recitation is especially valuaLle while pupils are 
engaged in the stncly of their Grammar. 

As one of the great objects in studying the Dead 
Languages is the discipline of the intellect and taste, 
I have found chxss criticism, judiciously managed, 
an excellent means of promoting it. 

The teacher himself must be a good classical 
scholar, if he would make good classical scholars. . 

Teachers of the Dead Languages, who love their 
work, will have little difficulty in inspiring their 
pupils w^itli a similar love. 

in. Instruction in Living Foreign Languages. 

The interests of commerce, correspondence, tra- 
vel, literature, and science render a knowledge of 
several of the languages of Europe generally desira- 
ble. Besides, it is evident that the study of any 
language may be made advantageous in a dis- 
ciplinary point of view. The new thoughts, the 
varied modes of expression, the nice distinctions in 
the meaning of w^ords and sentences, the enlarged 
vocabulary, the comprehensive linguistic laws, the 
rich literar}^ stores accumulated in other lands, with 
wdiich a student of Foreign Languages becomes 
acquainted cannot but be valuable to him. 

For these reasons, it is well to consider in this 
place the methods of teaching Living Foreign 
Languages; but the subject will not require a 
lengthy discussion. 

A few persons study French, German, and other 
European languages for their literary and discip- 
linary advantages. For such persons, methods of 
teaching might be substantially the same as those 
"25 



290 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE. 

just described as most appropriate in the case of the 
Dead Languages. Inasmuch, however, as the Ety- 
mological forms of French and German are less 
complicated than are those of Latin and Greek, an 
effort to learn to read the former without a know- 
ledge of their Grammar, would be attended with 
more success than a similar effort in regard to the 
latter. 

The most prominent object for which Living 
Foreign Languages are studied is to acquire the 
ability to speak, to read, and to write them. With 
these ends in view, no better way of learning them 
is possible than that by which we learn to speak, 
read, and write our own language. This is the 
natural method. We learn to speak by hearing 
others speak — by associating certain verbal utter- 
ances with certain ideas and imitating them. Next 
we learn the characters which represent words, and 
acquire the power of making them ourselves. 
When we know how to speak, read, and Avrite our 
native language, we may commence the study of its 
Grammar. If circumstances favor, I am well con- 
vinced that this is the best way of learning a Living 
Foreign Language. Let the pupil be placed where 
he can hear the language it is designed that he 
should learn, spoken — spoken in its purity, let him 
hear no other, and he will soon learn to speak it 
himself. This done, he can acquire the ability to 
read and write it as he did his native tongue, and, 
when prepared, he can engage in the study of its 
Grammar. In writing this, I have in my mind 
children who are from three to ten years of age ; 
and it might be remarked that foreign languages 



LIVING FOREIGN LANGUAGES. 291 

are learned at this age with great rapidity. If pupils 
are older than the age thought of, it might not be 
improper to combine the exercises in speaking, read- 
ing, writing, and Grammar. 

It is not often, however, that the circumstances 
above supposed — circumstances in which the pupil 
can hear spoken in its purity the language he wishes 
to learn, are found to surround a pupil. They are 
seldom enjoyed by any who cannot pursue their 
studies in a foreign land, and hence some modifica- 
tion of this method must be adopted that will render 
it better suited to the condition of such as study 
under less favorable circumstances. 

The pronunciation of a foreign language cannot 
be correctly learned from any one who does not 
pronounce correctly, nor can it be learned from a 
book, however carefully notated. A person well 
acquainted with the elementary sounds of our own 
language, however, can use this knowledge to con- 
siderable advantage in learning another. French 
and German for example, have very few sounds 
which are not found in English. If such a pupil 
first learn those sounds which are peculiar to the 
lano'iasce he desires to master, and then use a care- 
i'nWy notated book or Pronouncing Dictionary, he 
can attain such a pronunciation as may possibly 
sufiace to make him understood. But to speak a 
language correctly, something more is necessary 
than to utter its elementary sounds; there is a tone 
— a manner of speaking, that can never be acquired 
except from a correct model. 

Where foreign languages are often taught by 
English teachers, as they are in this countrj^, and 



292 iNSTEUCTioN m languages. 

where pupils use their native language always, ex- 
cept when preparing or reciting their lessons, the 
systems of such authors as Ollendorff, Wooclhury, 
and Fasquelle are doubtless the best that can be 
used. After having given some directions in regard 
to pronunciation, these writers begin their lessons 
with brief, conversational exercises about the most 
familiar things, and follow them with other exercises 
in which practice is given in reading and writing 
such words and sentences as may have been intro- 
duced into the preceding conversational exercise. 
Each lesson takes for granted a knowledge of the 
lessons which preceded it, and new words and new 
constructions are presented for practice in speaking, 
reading, and writing. Grammatical forms and prin- 
ciples are introduced into all the exercises wdien- 
ever it is thought that benefit can be derived from 
them. A course of lessons, arranged according to 
this method, will comprehend a well-graded series 
of exercises in speaking, reading, and writing a 
language, conducted with reference toits Grammar. 

This method differs from that by which a person 
learns his mother-tongue in several particulars — in 
the use of books when teaching pupils to speak the 
language, and in teaching pupils to read and write 
the language and learn its Grammar while learning 
to speak it. For children not old enough to under- 
stand Grammar, it is not well adapted ; but in the 
hands of a teacher who can present a correct model 
of pronunciation, it is perhaps the only method well 
suited to the teaching of a foreign language in 
American schools. 

Pupils may learn to read a foreign language by 



LIVIXG FOREIGN- LANGUAGES. 293 

the method of interlinear transhxtion ; but the know- 
ledge of a language thus acquired must be very 
superficial. It is a great error to suppose that a 
knowledge of any language can be acquired in a 
short time or in a few lessons. Possibly some easy 
authors might be read profitably by means of inter- 
linear translations before commencins: a series of 
such exercises as those of OllendrofF. A o^ood teacher 
might impart in this way a knowledge of pronuncia- 
tion, the meaning of many words, and some idea of 
construction, all of which would be very advanta- 
geous in learning the Grammar. 

Pupils might begin the study of a language like 
French or German by commencing with its Gram- 
mar ; but the teacher will find it very difiicult to 
interest pupils in the study of the abstract Grammar 
of a foreign language, and, besides, it is scarcely 
possible to acquire the ability to speak a language 
in this manner. 

After a course of elementary instruction in which 
pupils have learned to speak, read, and write a 
foreign language with some facility, and possess a 
good knowledge of its Grammar, they may com- 
mence with profit the reading of authors. Easy 
authors must be first chosen, and afterwards those 
more difiicult. Translations should be required and 
questions be asked upon the subject-matter in much 
the same way as has already been described in 
speaking of methods of teaching the Dead Lan- 
guages. 



CHAPTER III. 

INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

The Formal Sciences treat of the necessary /on7?« 
in which truth presents itself or by which truth is 
conceived. They may be divided into two great 
classes, Mathematies and Logic. 

Mathematics is the science of pure quantity. Its 
principles have no dependence upon material things. 
All its calculations and demonstrations may be made 
without reference to them. But its formulae express 
the conditions under which matter exists in space 
and time. 

Logic is the science of pure thought. Its ^Y\n- 
ciples are not derived from the manner in which 
thinking is done, but they show how it must he done. 
Its formulae express the relations between the several 
parts of the thinking process. 

The sciences of Mathematics and Logic are 
called Formal Sciences, because they relate to truth 
only in its abstract or ideal condition. The prin- 
ciples of both would be true if matter had no 
existence. 

The following quotation from Sir William Ham- 
ilton will show that the object-matter of the F-ormal 
Sciences is exhausted by Mathematics and Logic. 
He says, " Formal Knowledge is of two kinds ; for 
it regards either the conditions of the Elaborative 

(294) 



THE FOKMAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 295 

Faculty — the Faculty of Thought Proper — or the 
conditions of the Presentations or Representations 
of oxteroal things ; that is, the intuitions of Space 
and Time. The former of these sciences is Pure 
Logic — the science which considers the laws to 
which the Understanding is astricted in its elabora- 
tive operations, without inquiring what is the ob- 
ject — what is the matter, to which these operations 
are applied. The latter of these sciences is Mathe- 
matics, or the science of Quantity, which considers 
the relations of Space and Time, without inquiring 
whether there be any actual reality in space or time. 
Formal truth will, therefore, be of two kinds — • 
Logical and Mathematical." 

The Formal Sciences are evolved from certain 
ideas and are founded upon certain axioms of which 
it is not their province to treat. These belong to 
the domain of Philosophy — a Rational Science. 

If now we have correctly apprehended the nature 
of Mathematics and Logic, methods of instruction 
adapted to impart a knowledge of them must have 
much in common ; and, therefore, it may be well 
before discussing the particular principles of instruc- 
tion which a2:)ply to each separately, to speak of the 
general principles which apply to both alike. 

I. The Formal Sciences in GeneraL 

The object-matter of a Formal Science admits 
division into three classes, as follows : 1. Definitions 
and AxiomB ; 2. Deductions' and Demonstrations ; 3. 
Applications. Its applications are not properly a 
part of the science ; but they are very important in 



296 INSTRUCTION IN THE FOHMAL SCIENCES. 

the work of teaching: to illustrate and enforce scien- 
tific principles. 



'a 



1. Definitions and Axioms. — Definitions, in the 
sense here intended, express the necessary limita- 
tions of particular conceptions. This is their mean- 
ing whether they relate to the explication of a term 
or to the nature of a thing. 

Axioms, in the sense here intended, express 
the necessary relations of particular conceptions. 
Axioms in Mathematics express relations in space 
and time, and Axioms in Logic express the rela- 
tions of one part of the thinking process to another. 

It is exceedingly important that teachers should 
be careful in teaching Definitions in the Formal 
Sciences, where no real object can be presented to 
illustrate their meaning. We must understand the 
meaning of terms before we can use them properly. 
An object of thought must stand out before the 
mind distinct in itself, and separate from everything 
else, before one sure step can be taken in the inves- 
tigation of its relations. Imperfect Definitions 
vitiate processes of reasoning, and it is to be feared 
that much of our teaching is defective in not requir- 
ing pupils to define fully, distinctly, and adequately. 

The following are the most important laws to 
which Definitions must conform. Their meaning is 
sufiftciently plain without any explanation. 

1st. A definition must be a truthful representation 
of the conception defined. It must contain nothing 
that does not belong to it. 

2d. A definition must be an adequate representa- 
tion of the whole conception. It must contain all 
that belongs to it. 



THE FOKMAL SCIEXCES IX GEXEEAL. 297 

3d. All that is contained in a Definition should 
be self-evident. A Definition should not need 
defining. 

4th. A Definition should be an affirmative prop- 
osition. Showing what a thing is not does not 
always reveal w^hat it is. 

5th. A conception cannot be defined by using the 
same terms in which the conception is expressed. 
In such a case, the unknown terms which darkened 
the conception would also darken the definition 
of it. 

6th. Definitions should be stated in the briefest, 
-Strongest, and most expressive form of w^ords. 

Let pupils study, closely the Definitions of the 
text-book, let them test them, and make others for 
themselves. They may commit them to memory, 
but it is much more important that they should 
understand them. If properly conducted, exercises 
in learning Mathematical and Logical definitions 
will prove an exceedingly valuable discipline for 
the mind. 

All reasoning would be impossible without certain 
fixed principles from which to start. 'No man could 
ever convince another with regard to a truth or an 
error, if there were not some common point of 
agreement between them. Hence the necessity of 
Axioms in the economy of thought. And, although 
a formal statement of them is not always made, they 
constitute the bases of all sciences, and are espe- 
cially prominent in the sciences of Mathematics 
and Logic. 



298 INSTRUCTION IN THE FOEMAL SCIENCES. 

As previously stated, the Formal Sciences borrow 
their Axioms from the Rational Sciences. From 
Axioms in general it may be their province to select 
such as belong to them; but they have nothing to 
do in determining the nature of Axioms, the tests 
by which they are to be distinguished, their number 
or their classification. 

Mathematical Axioms are so well known that it 
seems unnecessary to enumerate them. They un- 
derlie as well the sciences which treat of number as 
those which treat of form. 

Among Logical Axioms the following may be 
named — 

1st. All thinking is governed by law. 

2d. Every universal is composed of particulars. 

3d. Every particular is comprehended in a uni- 
versal. 

4th. Whatever may be predicated of a universal 
may be predicated of all the particulars of which it 
is composed. 

5th. Whatever may be predicated of all the par- 
ticulars composing a universal may be predicated 
of the universal. 

6th. If two terms agree with the same third term 
they agree with each other. 

7th. If of two terms, the one agrees and the other 
disagrees with the same third term, they disagree 
with each other. 

This enumeration is not intended to exhaust the 
Axioms belonging to the science of Logic, but 
simply to show that there are such Axioms. 

With respect to pupils old enough to comprehend 



THE FORMAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 299 

Axioms, the method of teaching them presents no 
difficulty. Their simple statement will secure as- 
sent, and nothing more is needed. The discus- 
sion of their use in building up a science belongs 
further on. 

2. Deductions and Demonstrations. — Deduction 
may be defined as the process of drawing out a 
particular from a universal truth by simple inspec- 
tion or by a single step of reasoning. Demonstra- 
tion may be defined as the method of finding new 
truths by the process of comparing definitions, 
axioms, and established propositions with one 
another. The first has the form of a direct infe- 
rence or a single syllogism, while the second con- 
sists of a train of reasoning or a series of syllo- 
gisms. As the method of both is substantially the 
same, both may be considered together under the 
name Demonstration. This may be the case also if 
Deduction be used to designate a general method of 
reasoning, and Demonstration, an application of it. 

In Pure Mathematics, all that cannot be learned 
directly, by intuition, must be learned by Demonstra- 
tion. Inductive reasoning has no place in Mathe- 
matics. 

In Pure Logic the same is true, for although an 
Inductive Syllogism may be used, yet, in a pure 
form, the conclusion must be just as much a posi- 
tive truth as it is in a Deductive Syllogism. In Ap- 
plied Logic as in Applied Mathematics, the conclu- 
sions are not always either certain or exact. 

The Demonstrations of Logic consist essentially 
in showing the relations between the conclusions 



^00 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

of syllogisms and their premises. In general, but a 
single step is necessary to be taken, away from the 
first principles upon which the science rests. 

Demonstrations in Mathematics, although like 
those of Logic in the circumstance that they con- 
cern pure conceptions and not the conceptions of 
material objects, differ from them in several parti- 
culars. In Mathematics it is not the doctrine of the 
sjdlogism as an exposition of the laws of thought 
that is to be demonstrated, but the relations of num- 
bers and forms by means of syllogisms. Mathema- 
tics is a formal application of Logic to the concep- 
tions of time and space. The student of Mathe- 
matics therefore cannot select any premises but he 
must select the right premises, lie cannot often 
find the truth he seeks at the end of a single syllo- 
gism, but must frequQjitly trace it through a long 
series of syllogisms. 

So far as methods of teaching them are concerned, 
however, the Demonstrations of Mathematics and of 
Logic may be considered together ; and the point now 
is to find the governing principles of those methods. 

One who would become skilful in demonstrating 
must attend to the following rules : — 

1st. Understand the proix)sition to be demon- 
strated and its relations to the definitions and 
axioms upon which it depends and to the propo- 
sitions which may have preceded or are to follow it. 

2d. Observe a rigid logical order in the successive 
steps of the demonstration. 

3d. Argue closely and clearly. 

4th. Attain positive conclusions. 

5th. Use appropriate language. 



THE FORMAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 801 

These rules are sufficiently obvious without ex- 
planation. If any one of them is disregarded no 
perfect demonstration can be secured. They apply, 
however, to the demonstration of independent prop- 
ositions. The object-matter of a Formal Science 
is composed of several kinds of propositions w^hicli 
must be divided according to certain laws, among 
which the following are the most important — 

1st. The divisions should exclude one another. 

2d. The order of the divisions should be deter- 
mined by their logical relations. 

3d. In the arrangement of particular propositions 
the simple and the independent should precede the 
complex and the dependent. 

A child first learns to reason in connection with 
objects. The steps he takes are very short and very 
easy. Properly instructed, his skill rapidly improves 
until he can appreciate the abstract relations of 
things or thoughts. For first efibrts at formal 
demonstration, easy propositions should be given 
him, and then those more difiicult. Eventually he 
may be able to follow the most abstruse reasoning 
incident to Mathematics or Logic. 

If teachers reason skilfully, their pupils will be 
likely to be benefited by their example. 

Practice in detecting the diiFerent kinds of fal- 
lacies in arguments will be a good exercise. 

A wise teacher will lead his j)upils to discover 
their own errors in reasoning rather than correct 
them himself The method Socrates so successfully 
practiced against the Sophists of his day may be 
just as usefully applied now. 

26 



802 INSTEUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES 

3. Applications. — Mind and matter are correla- 
tive. For every ideal truth there must be a real 
thing — for every form of thought there must be 
matter to fill the form, or the creation would not 
harmonize. The world within must envisage the 
world without, or God could not have created it. 
Hence all abstract formulae must be adapted to some 
concrete phenomena ; or every Formal Science must 
have its Applications. 

Mathematical principles may be applied to all 
things that appear under the conditions of space and 
time. 

Logical principles are of universal application, for 
all things may be thought about. 

In making an application of Formal truths three 
things are necessary : 1st, To have attained a clear 
conception of the truths themselves ; 2d, To have 
carefully observed and colligated facts ; 3d, To be 
able to apply the right ideas to the right facts. 

Formal truths so far as they are not axiomatic are 
attained by the process of demonstration as already 
shown. 

The collection and colligation of facts belong to 
the department of Empirical science and are to be 
treated of in the proper place. 

The Applications of the Formal Sciences consist 
in fitting the right ideas to the right facts. This 
may be more a work of art than of science, but 
nature presents no more important work for human 
efibrt to perform. He who deals only with Formal 
thought is apt to become impractical and visionary. 
He may build up systems which seem beautiful, but 
at a touch they vanish into the thin air of which 



MATHEMATICS. 303 

tliej were composed. He who absorbs all liis time 
in collecting facts, who with eyes cast clown to earth 
never looks heavenward, but occupies himself in 
examining animals, and plants, and .stones, and 
fossils, until the eye of faith grows dim and matter 
seems omnipotent, does even less for himself and 
mankind than the speculative dreamer. But he 
who accustoms himself to apply the right ideas to 
the right facts, to prove his reasonings, to verify his 
theories, will be in no danger of becoming an im- 
practical idealist on the one hand or a coarse mate- 
rialist on the other. He finds that every fact rests 
in an idea; that each jewel has its casket in the 
crown of nature ; that forms of thought existed in 
the God-mind and He made matter to fill them. 

As hints to teachers giving instruction in the 
Applications of the Formal Sciences, it may be 
stated that sometimes facts may be given and pupils 
required to find principles, and sometimes principles 
may be given and pupils required to find facts ; that 
easy applications should always precede those more 
difficult; that numerous examples and abundant 
illustrations should be furnished, arranged both with 
reference to specific principles and miscellaneously ; 
and that close explanations should be exacted in 
all cases. 

IL Mathematics. 

After what has now been said respecting the 
nature of the Formal Sciences in General and the 
methods of teaching them, it is not deemed necessary 
to treat specially of methods of teaching Mathe- 
matics. Besides, what should be said specifically 



304 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

with respect these methods will appear in speaking 
of methods of teaching Arithmetic, Algebray and 
Geometry. 

Something will be expected, however, in regard 
to the advantages to be derived from the study of 
Mathematics. 

Mathematics has occupied a prominent place in 
courses of instruction for the j^oung from the earliest 
times. Some have thought that its disciplinary ad- 
vantages were greater than could be derived from 
any other branch of instruction, while others have 
maintained that its study was rather hurtful than 
otherwise. In the hope of contributing something 
toward the settlement of the question, it is proposed 
here briefly to consider the value of Mathematical 
studies: 1. In the?nselves ; 2. In their objective rela- 
tions ; 1. In their effects upon the mind. 

1. The Value of Mathematical Studies in themselves. 
— All truth is worthy of study for its own sake. To 
decide otherwise would be to question the wisdom 
of God who created it. All kinds of truth, however, 
may not be of equal value, and the inquiry might 
be made as to the relative value of Mathematical 
truth. Truth may be divided into three kinds: 
ideal truth, formal truth, and real truth. Ideal truth 
is the truth which we know by simple intuition, 
which furnishes the basis upon which all other truth 
rests, and the criteria by which it is judged. Formal 
truth expresses the necessary forms in which all 
truth presents itself or by wdiich it is conceived. 
Real truth is the harmonious relation between 
things or between thought and things. In compar- 



MATHEMATICS. 305 

ing tlie value of these several kinds of triitli, no 
reasons appear why formal truth is not of as much 
worth as. either of the other kinds. It seems as 
noble in itself, is of as much use, and manifests as 
fully the glory of the Creator. But formal truth is 
of two kinds. Mathematical and Logical, and we 
seek to know only the value of Mathematical truth. 

As has been already shown, Logic contains a 
larger body of truth than Mathematics and is of 
wider application, but I can find no standard by 
which it can be determined that a truth in the one 
science is more valuable than a truth in the other. 

Mathematics is a noble science. Many of its 
principles are exceedingly beautiful, and some of 
them almost sublime. It has won the admiration 
of great men in all ages, and his education must be 
considered incomplete among whose acquisitions a 
knowledge of Mathematics is not found. 

2. The Value of 3IatJiematical Studies in their Ob- 
jective Relations. — 'Eo other science is so generally 
connected with the aifairs of business as Mathe- 
matics. Arithmetic is used in keeping accounts and 
in all the transactions of buying and selling. In 
connection with Geometry, it is used in all me- 
chanical employments. Geometry, Algebra, Trigo- 
nometry, Conic Sections, &c., cannot be dispensed 
with in the construction of machinery, nor in any 
of the departments of Engineering. All this, how- 
ever, is so generally understood that it seems hardly 
necessary to mention it. 

Mathematics is the hand-maid of the sciences. 
Working by means of this potent instrument mod- 

26* 



306 INSTRUCTIOX IX THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

erii pliilosopliers Lave been able to make rapid 
advances in many departments of physical science. 
To it, we are indebted for what is most valuable in 
Mechanics, Optics, Pneumatics, Thermotics, As- 
tronomy, and other sciences like these. It has its 
uses in Geography, Chemistry, Geology, and even 
Political Economy. Matter everywhere presents 
itself to us under Mathematical conditions. Laws 
that find their expression in Mathematics rule all 
that moves in the heavens, all that ilies in the air, all 
that swims in the waters, all that springs up from 
the earth or that falls upon its surface, and the firm 
earth itself. Yonder yellow leaf that is lifted from 
its stem by the autumn wind, and after innumerable 
gyrations in the air, falls upon the surface of the 
stream and is borne onward by the current, makes 
no movement but in obedience to such laws. 
^Mathematics has principles great enough to sweep 
the Universe, and hold suns and planets in their 
grasp, and delicate enough to poise the smallest 
atom on a point much too fine for human con- 
ception. 

3. Tlte Value of Mathematieal Studies in their 
Effects upon the Mind. — One of the most important 
objects of study is to secure mental discipline. 
"What is the value of Mathematics in this respect ? 
In discussing this point. Sir William Hamilton says : 
"If we consult reason, experience, and the common 
testimony of ancient and modern times, none of our 
intellectual studies tend to cultivate a smaller number 
of the faculties, in a more partial or feeble manner than 
Mathematics.'' In proof of this opinion, he quotes 



MATHEMATICS. 807 

a large lumiber of authorities, a few of wliom I sliall 
take the liberty of citing here : 

" Bernhardt a celebrated Prussian educator, says : 
'It is asked — Do 3fathematics awaken the judgment, 
the reasoning faculty, and the understanding to an all- 
sided activity? We are compelled to answer — No.' 

"'This also shows me,' says Goethe, 'more and 
more distinctly, what I have long in secret been 
aware of, that the cultivation afforded by the Mathe- 
matics is, in the highest (^egree one-sided and con- 
tracted.' 

'•''Descartes stated in a letter in 1630, 'That he had 
renounced the study of Mathematics for many years, 
and that he was anxious not to lose any more of his 
time in the barren operations of Geometry and 
Arithmetic, studies which never lead to anything 
important.' 

"'Thus it is rare,' says Pascal, 'that Mathemati- 
cians are observant, or that observant minds are 
Mathematical.' 

" Dugald Stewart says, ' When the Mathematician 
reasons upon subjects unconnected with his favorite 
studies, he is apt to assume, too confidently certain 
intermediate principles as the foundation of his 
arguments.' And again, ' I have never met with 
a mere Mathematician who was not credulous to a 
fault.' 

*•' Bayle says, 'It cannot be disputed, that it is 
rare to find 'much devotion in persons who have 
once acquired a taste for^ the study of Mathe- 
matics.' 

"i>e Stael, to the same effect, 'The Mathematics 
lead us to lay out of account all that is not proved.' " 



308 INSTEUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

Sir "William's argument against the use of Mathe- 
matics as a discipline for the mind is summed up in 
the following sentence. "We are thus disqualified 
for observation, either internal or external^ for abstrac- 
tion, and generalization, for common reasoning, nay, 
disposed to the alternative of blind credulity or of 
irrational skepticism. '' This argument he supports 
at much length with great ability and greater learn- 
ing. When closely examined, however, the whole 
argument will be found to bear not so much against 
the use of Mathematics as a disciplinary study in 
its proper place, as against the injudicious claims 
advanced in its behalf in that regard. 

'Eo one should claim for the study of Mathema- 
tics that it disciplines the ordinary powers of obser- 
vation. It is not concerned with either material or 
mental phenomena. Its province is not to collect 
facts. Pure Mathematics is quite indifferent to the 
existence of matter. There is a kind of observing 
power, how^ever, wdiich the study of Mathematics 
does cultivate — that power which sees truth in de- 
finitions and axioms and without which all demon- 
strations w^ould be blind and unproductive of fruit. 

Abstraction and generalization as used in the Em- 
pirical sciences have no place in Mathematics, and 
therefore that study cannot develop and strengthen 
the mental powers by which those processes are 
performed. But in another sense all of Pure Ma- 
thematics is abstract, and • surely Mathematical 
truths admit classification and generalization. In 
every branch of Mathematics there are forms of 
demonstration which are true in particular cases, 
and there are others which must be true in all 



MATHEMATICS. 309 

cases. In teaching, pupils nriay be made to advance 
from particular examples to general principles. 

If hy common reasoning is meant that kind of 
reasoning in which the conclusions arrived at are 
probable but not positive, it must be admitted that 
the study of Mathematics is not well calculated to 
increase ability in its use. As Hamilton forcibly 
remarks, "Mathematical demonstration is solely 
occupied in deducing conclusions; probable reason- 
ing, principally concerned in looking out for premises. 
All Mathematical reasoning flows from, and, admit- 
ting no tributary streams, can be traced back to its 
original source : principle and conclusion are con- 
vertible. The most eccentric deduction of the 
science is only the last ring in a long chain of 
reasoning, which descends, with adamantine neces- 
sity, link by link, in one simple series, from its 
original dependence. In contingent matter, on the 
contrary, the reasoning is comparatively short ; and 
as the conclusion can seldom be securely established 
on a single antecedent, it is necessary, in order to 
realize the adequate amount of evidence, to accu- 
mulate probabilities by multiplying the media of 
inference; and thus to make the same conclusion, 
as it were, the apex of many convergent arguments. 
In general reasoning, therefore, the capacities 
mainly requisite, and mainly cultivated, are the 
prompt acuteness which discovers .what materials 
are wanted for our premises, and the activity, 
knowledge, sagacity, and research, able compe- 
tently to supply them. In demonstration, on the 
contrary, the one capacity cultivated is that patient 
habit of suspending all intrusive thought, and of 



810 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

continuing an attention to the unvaried evolution 
of that perspicuous evidence which it passively 
recognizes, but does not actively discover. Of ob- 
servation, experiment, induction, analogy, the Ma- 
thematician knows nothing." 

The above is a true exposition of the nature of 
Mathematical reasoning ; but it does not follow that 
such reasoning is of no value. It cannot accom- 
plish what its nature unfits it for, but it may accom- 
plish other ends quite as important. 

The habit of rigid demonstration, of close think- 
ing, which Mathematics inculcates, must be in itself 
very valuable. If no other kind of reasoning be 
practiced, it will no doubt lead to a one-sided cul- 
ture ; but, pursued with other kinds, any danger of 
this sort is avoided, and much is gained by intro- 
ducing somewhat of Mathematical exactness and 
clearness, both of thought and language, into what 
has been called the " common reasoning of life." 
!N"eed it be added that the loose forms of reasoning 
to which the majority of men are accustomed stand 
much in want of pruning ? 

Mathematical reasoning is necessary in Mechanics, 
Engineering, N^avigation, Geography, Astronomy, 
and other arts and sciences ; and when we consider 
that the principles of Mathematics are used in all 
transactions of buying and selling, the reasoning 
peculiar to that branch of study will not be con- 
sidered very uncommon. 

Hamilton himself admits that the study of Mathe- 
matics tends to correct the vice of ^'mental distrac- 
tion," and to inculcate the virtue of "continuous 
attention." The attainment of this end alone would 



MATHEMATICS. 311 

justify the study of Mathematics in our schools, for 
no one addicted to the vice of "mental distraction'* 
can either become a scholar or succeed well in life. 

It is easy to see how a mere Mathematician — a 
man who knows nothing hut forms and numbers, 
might become credulous as to premises, and skeptical 
as to conclusions ; but this danger cannot exist when 
instruction in Mathematics is combined with instruc- 
tion in other departments of learning. Besides^ it 
would seem that any one understanding the nature 
of Mathematics would scarcely expect to find else- 
where self-evident premises or positive conclusions ; 
and hence be on his guard against allowing habits 
of thought engendered in demonstrative reasoning 
to influence him in inductive reasoning. The in- 
ductive reasoner, indeed, needs quite as much to 
be on his guard against bad mental habits as the 
Mathematician. 

The sum of all is this : Man and nature correlate. 
It takes the wiiole of nature used as means to culti- 
vate duly the whole of man. Instruction confined 
to one science, or to one class of sciences must be 
partial, one-sided, and productive of bad mental 
habits. Mathematics may receive more than its 
share of attention in some of our institutions of 
learning, and bad results may sometimes flow from 
it; but that such studies are valuable in them- 
selves, in their objective relations, and as a discipline 
of the mind, is susceptible of the strongest proof. 
The only point that has been seriously questioned is 
their value for the purpose of mental discipline; 
but until it can be shown that demonstrative reason- 



312 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

ing is valueless in itself, that the discipline of the 
mental faculties it calls into requisition is a super- 
fluous work, and that it has no useful application in 
the sciences or in the affairs of life — all impossible, 
Mathematics will retain a prominent place in our 
courses of instruction. 

Arithmetic. 

Arithmetic may be defined as the science of dum- 
ber. The idea of number, probably, has its origin 
in a consciousness of successive mental states con- 
stituting periods, and is therefore involved in the 
more fundamental idea of time. But whether this 
is a correct account of its origin or otherwise, it is 
certain that external objects furnish the occasion of 
its formation, and that children possess it at a very 
early age. 

Arithmetic has its Definitions and Axioms, its De- 
ductions and Demonstrations, and its Applications. 

Among Arithmetical definitions, there must be 
those of number^ a U7iit, a fraction^ ratio, &c. ; and 
among Arithmetical axioms, there must be the fol- 
lowing : " Two magnitudes are equal when they can 
be divided into parts which are equal each to each;" 
"The whole is greater than any of its parts;" "The 
whole is equal to the sum of all its parts ;" "If with 
the same means the same operations be performed 
upon equal quantities,* the results will be equal." 

It is maintained by good authority that "Pure 
Arithmetic contains no demonstration," but while 
the operations of adding, subtracting, multiplying, 
and dividing may, perhaps, be resolved into pro- 
cesses of simple intuition, there seem to be other 



ARITHMETIC. 813 

Arithmetical operations which cannot be so re- 
solved. For example, that the product of the two 
means of a proportion is equal to the two extremes, 
or that if the numerator and denominator of a frac- 
tion be multiplied or divided by the same number 
its value will remain the same. Arithmetic may 
re.quire fewer steps of reasoning than Geometry, but 
its methods of operation are substantially the same. 
All the reasonings of Arithmetic are properly 
deductive or demonstrative. Some writers upon 
Arithmetic use the term induction with reference 
to certain methods of operation ; but in all cases 
the truth sought is capable of being demonstrated 
without the series of facts from which it is inferred 
by induction, and, besides, universal truths which 
it is the special province of deductive science to 
attain, can never be arrived at hy an inductive 
method. 

The greater part of our treatises on Arithmetic is 
taken up with the Applications of the science. Its 
practical importance renders this desirable. 

From what has been stated above, it will be seen 
that the general remarks made upon Methods of 
Instruction in the Formal Sciences, apply to Arith- 
metic; but as already intimated, it is my purpose 
to enter upon a more detailed discussion of Methods 
of teaching this subject. 

Before proceeding to describe these methods,, it 
may be well to state the principal ends for which 
Arithmetic is studied, and the most necessary con- 
ditions of their attainment. These ends are : 1st, To 
obtain a knowledge of the properties of numbers ; 2d, 
27 



814 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

To give practice in mathematical reasoning ; 3d, To 
attain precision in the use of language ; and 4th, To 
secure skill in the application of numbers to the concerns 
of life. There are several secondary ends which 
must not be overlooked. Among them, the follow- 
ing: Ist, Rapidity and accuracy in the solution of 
problems ; 2d, Skill in the use of abbreviating artificer; 
3d, An acquaintance with methods of proof. The 
following may be named as the most necessary con- 
ditions for the attainment of these ends : 1st, Tlie 
object-matter of the s-cieytce should be distributed in a 
logical order; 2d, Pupils should commence tvith the 
simplest Arithinetical operation, and be thoroughly 
grounded in each step of their progress before taking 
another ; 3d, Arithmetical definitions and rules should 
be understood- by pupils before they are required to use 
them; 4th, Pupils should be taught to explain their 
work in clear, concise, and appropriate language ; 5th, 
Numerous, well-graded, skilfully varied problems, em- 
bodying every principle learned, should furnish ample 
opportunity to pupils for making a practical application 
of their theoretical knowledge. 

Arithmetic is usually divided into two parts. Oral 
Arithmetic and Written Arithmetic. These names 
are derived from the manner in which the operation 
is performed. All Arithmetic is "Mental," "Intel- 
lectual," and "Practical" in its character. Written 
Arithmetic may embrace all Aritlmietical topics. 
In preparing their work, pupils write it out on slates 
or blackboards ; and in reciting, they are expected 
to explain what they have done. Oral Arithmetic 
embraces only such topics as admit of a convenient 
oral discussion, and such problems as do not con- 



ARITHMETIC. 315 

tain large numbers or require complicated fractional 
reductions. Pupils are expected to prepare their 
lessons in Oral Arithmetic without writing down 
their work, and to repeat the problems and solve 
them orally, upon hearing the teacher read them. 
Instruction in both Oral and Written Arithmetic 
should be given at the same time, and some 
advantage may be gained by making the lessons 
correspond. The peculiar advantage of the Oral 
method is that it enables a teacher to accomplish 
more disciplinary work in the same time than the 
Written method, and gives more exercise to the 
powers of conception and memory. Being unaided 
by written symbols it tends more to cultivate con- 
tinuitv of thouo'ht. 

We shall now endeavor to present a series of 
Arithmetical exercises which will conform to the 
principles already indicated. 

1. Exercises in Counting. — A child will be found 
to possess the idea of number at a very early age. 
He undoubtedly obtains it through the medium of 
objects. It is the teacher's duty to exj^and this idea 
in the way nature indicates. If a child can count 
ten when he enters school, the teacher must begin 
his instruction at that point and teach him to count 
twenty, fifty, and a hundred in the same way he 
learned to count ten. Convenient objects riiay be 
found for this purpose in beans, grains of corn, 
pebbles, strokes on a blackboard, or balls on a 
frame. The pupils should be taught to count back- 
wards as well as forwards, and without objects as 
well as with them. 



316 INSTKUCTION IN" THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

2. Exercises in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and 
dividing orally. — These exercises must first be taught 
with objects; but the pupil must be gradually 
accustomed to do without them. Small numbers 
must be used until the pupil is prepared for larger 
ones. The manner of conducting such exercises is 
so obvious that no description of it here, is deemed 
necessary. Besides, any teacher who may need aid 
can obtain it from works on Oral Arithmetic. 

3. Exercises in combining these Processes. — These 
exercises are of the same nature as the preceding 
and can be conducted in the same way. The teacher 
will do well to introduce into the lessons the names 
of the pupils in the class, the objects about the 
school-room, trees, flowers, sheep, horses, cows, 
dogs, &c. 

4. Exercises in learning the written Symbols for 
Numbers. — Pupils have now the idea of number. 
They can readily count, and it is a task of no diffi- 
culty to make them acquainted with the nine digits. 
It is only necessary for them to make an arbitrary 
association between the number and the character 
which is used to represent it. The pupils may 
count while the teacher forms the characters, or the 
teacher may name the numbers, and the pupils 
either" point them out or name them. The meaning 
of the cypher must likewise be taught. 

5. Exercises in Numeration and Notation. — For the 
purpose of teaching ISTotation and I^umeration, I 






ARITHMETIC. 317 

would arrange columns of figures upon cards or 
blackboards thus: 

1 10 100 1000 10,000 100,000 

2 20 200 2000 20,000 200,000 

3 30 300 3000 30,000 300,000 

4 40 400 4000 40,000 400,000 

5 50 500 5000 50,000 500,000 

6 60 600 6000 60,000 600,000 

7 70 700 7000 70,000 700,000 

8 80 800 8000 80,000 800,000 

9 90 900 9000 90,000 900,000 

This done, I would use the first two columns in 
giving the first lesson. One may be called the units 
column, and the other the tens column. We now 
suppose that the class have leai-ned to read and 
write the numbers in the column of units, and we 
use it only to assist us in the task of teaching them 
to read and write the numbers in the column of tens. 
The teacher should call attention to the fact that 
there are single figures to represent any number of 
objects up to nine; but that ten cannot be repre- 
sented by a single character. He may then arrange 
objects in collections of ten, and have his pupils 
count one ten, two tens, three tens, four tens, &c. 
If now he tell them that one ten is designated by 
the figure one with a cypher placed to the right of 
it, as in the column of tens, they will be prepared 
to understand that two tens are designated by the 
figure two with a c^q^her placed to the right of it, 
and so on to nine tens. The pupils should be 
exercised in pointing out two tens or twenty, five 
tens or fifty, seven tens or seventy, &c. ; and after- 
wards, in writing them. 

27* 



318 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

The second lesson should consist in teaching the 
class to read and write numbers between ten and 
tw^enty, twenty and thirty, kc, to ninety-nine. The 
teacher may write the number 10 upon the black- 
board and ask how many added to ten will make 
eleven, twelve, thirteen, &c. lie may then ask how 
these numbers are written, and if no one can tell, 
he may erase the cypher and put 1 in its place, and 
say the 1 on the left hand signifies one ten, and the 
1 on the right hand one unit, and one ten and 
one unit are eleven. If when 1 is put in place of 
the cypher, the number becomes eleven, pupils will 
readily understand that when 2 is put in its place 
the number will become twelve ; 3, thirteen, and so 
on to nineteen. The numbers between twenty and 
thirty can be taught in the same way, and so on to 
ninety-nine. Pupils must not only read the num- 
bers but write them. Questions like the following 
will also be very useful: What number is that 
which it composed of two tens and seven units? 
four tens and three units ? eight tens and &ve units ? 
&c. ; how many tens and units in twenty-four? in 
thirty-seven ? in seventy-six ? &c. 

Pupils have now learned to read and write all 
numbers up to ninety-nine. The next lesson should 
make them acquainted with the third column, or 
the column of hundreds. To do this, the teacher 
-will take the ten collections of objects of ten each, 
place them all together and ask the number. It is 
one hundred. He points to the number, has the 
pupils notice how it is written, and then they readily 
read and write the other numbers up to nine hun- 
dred. Any number may now be placed in the units 



AKITHMETIC. 819 

column by erasing the cypher and inserting the 
nnmber, and so with the tens column, or both 
columns at the same time. 

It is unnecessary to describe further, as the same 
method applies to the column of thousands, tens of 
thousands, hundreds of thousands, &c. 

6. Exercises m Addition, Subtraction, Mudtiplication, 
and Division. — A pupil who can read and write 
numbers is prepared to understand the operations 
of Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Divi- 
sion ; and, therefore, he should not only be taught 
how to perform these operations, but why they are 
so performed. 

For the pupil to understand the process of Addi- 
tion, it will be necessary for him to know that those 
numbers only which represent things of the same 
denomination can be added together. This he can 
l)e taught readily with objects. He will see at once 
that live grains of corn and .three beans neither 
make eight grains of corn nor eight beans, and, 
hence, that units must be added to units, tens to 
tens, &c. He must know how to convert lower 
denominations into higher ones, that is units into 
tens, tens into hundreds, &c. This, however, more 
properly belongs to l^otation and I^umeration. 
Finally, he must be made to see that to render such 
reductions more convenient he must commence in 
adding at the right-hand column of figures. 

To perform the operation of Subtraction nothing 
more is necessary than for that of Addition, except 
the converting of higher denominations to lower 
ones, and that is as easily done as its reverse. 



320 INSTKUCTION IX THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

There is no principle in Multiplication tliat is not 
found in Addition ; and Division is but a different 
kind of Subtraction. 

The iirst examples in Addition should consist of 
such numbers that the sum of those under each 
denomination can not exceed nine. The first ex- 
amples in Subtraction should consist of such num- 
bers that each number of a certain denomination in 
the minuend should exceed the number of the same 
denomination in the subtrahend. The first exam- 
ples in Multiplication should consist of such num- 
bers that none of the products of numbers in the 
multiplicand by the multiplier can exceed nine. 
The first examples in Division should consist of 
such numbers that the divisor can be contained in 
each number of the dividend without a remainder. 
The first divisors used in what is called Long Divi- 
sion should be less than ten. In all cases the pro- 
gress of the pupils should be gradual ; but one point 
of difiiculty should be presented at a time. Much 
practice should be allowed them in order to secure 
rapidity and accuracy in the performance of their 
work. Solutions should be neatly written upon 
blackboards and properly explained. Forms of ex- 
planation may be obtained from text-books ; but 
teachers should be careful to have their pupils un- 
derstand them and not merely' commit them to 
memory. Teachers will find the construction of 
Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division 
tables, by their younger pupils, a very valuable 
auxiliary in familiarizing them with the processes 
involved. The terms applied to the numbers used 
in Subtraction are Minuend, Subtrahend, and Dif- 



ARITHMETIC. 821 

ference. Any two of these being given, a third 
can be found. The same is true in Multiplication 
with reference to the Multiplicand, Multiplier, and 
Product; and in Division with reference to the 
Dividend, Divisor, and Quotient. I mention these 
facts here, in order to say that such problems pre- 
sent w^ork of much value to learners. 

7. Exercises in the Solution of practical Examples 
involving the four fundamental Rules. — Pupils not 
only need to know hoiv to perform simple Arith- 
metical operations, but when they are required to be 
performed. Por this purpose numerous practical 
problems must be presented. All text-books con- 
tain some such problems ; but none of them within 
my knowledge contain one-fourth as many as are 
needed. The teacher must supply this deficiency. 
They are so well calculated to give interest to the 
study and to make pupils think, that I am disposed 
to consider them almost indispensable. 

8. Exercises in imparting the Idea of a Fraction. — 
The basis of all Arithmetical operations is the unit. 
The unit may be multiplied or divided, and these 
processes really constitute the whole of Pure Arith- 
metic. All Integers may be called multiplied units, 
and all Fractions, divided units. Particular whole 
numbers denote the extent of the multiplication, 
and particular fractions denote the nature of the 
division. 

The idea of a fraction is formed upon seeing things 
broken up or divided.. Pupils have the idea when 
they enter school, but the teacher must expand it by 



322 INSTEUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

exhibiting and naming the parts of objects. For 
this purpose, an apple may be cut into parts, a stick 
may be broken into pieces, or a line, a square, or a 
circle, drawn on a blackboard, may be divided into 
sections. Such instruction should be continued 
until the pupils can readily name the fraction upon 
seeing the object, or find an object which is repre- 
sented by the fraction ; or, in other words, until 
they learn to count fractionally. 

9. Exercises in adding, suhtr acting, multiplying, arid 
dividing fractions orally. — At this stage of their pro- 
gress, pupils may perform orally with much advan- 
tage some of the simpler problems in Addition, 
Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division of Frac- 
tions. Such questions as the following may be 
asked: In Addition: What is the sum of one-half 
and one-half? one-third and. one-third? one-fourth 
and two-fourths ? one-half and one-fourth? one-half 
and one-third ? &c. ; in Subtraction : What ip the 
difference between one and one-half? three-fourths 
and one-fourth? one-third and one-sixth ? one-half 
and one-third? &c. ; iji Multiplication: What is the 
product of two times one-half? three times one-third ? 
four times one-sixth? one-half times two? one-half 
times one-half? &c. ; in Division: how many halves in 
one? in two? in five? how many times is two contained 
in one-half? in one-third? in two-fourths? how 
many times is one-fourth contained in one-fourth ? 
in one-half? in one-eighth? &c. All this can be 
beautifully illustrated with squares drawn upon the 
blackboard and divided into the requisite number 
of parts. As soon as possible, however, pupils 



AEITHMETIC. 823 

should be taught to solve such problems without 
depending upon objects. 

10. Exercises in teaching Fractional Expressions. — 
When pupils have attained a clear idea of a fraction, 
it will not be difficult to teach them to express it. 
The simplest fractions are those in which the 
numerator is unity, and, therefore, pupils should 
first be taught to write J, |, i, 4, J^, &c. ; and after- 
wards fractions in which the numerator is greater 
than unity ; as |, |, |, j^, &c. Pupils maybe required 
to write fractions representing the given parts of 
squares or circles drawn upon the blackboard, or 
they may divide such figures so that certain given 
fractions will represent them. 

11. Exercises in the Addition^ Subtraction^ Multipli- 
catio7i, and Division of Fractions, and their Ajyplications. 
—Pupils are now prepared to enter upon the work 
of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing 
fractional numbers, and of making an application 
of them in the solution of practical problems. The 
work may be done orally or by writing. The sim- 
pler operations of fractions can be understood by 
inspection ; but when pupils are prepared for it, the 
rules for finding the Greatest Common Divisor, the 
Least Common Multiple, and all other rules relating 
to Fractions must be rigidly demonstrated. 

12. Exercises in Decimal Fractions. — With a know- 
ledge of the Decimal ^Notation and of Common 
Fractions, it will be no difficult task for a pupil to 
learn Decimal Fractions, for there is no new prin- 



324 INSTRUCTION IN THE FOEMAL SCIENCES. 

ciple involved. A Decimal Fraction is a fraction 
whose denominator is always 10 or some product 
of 10. Such fractions are written by placing a point, 
called the Decimal Point, before the numerator. 
This point indicates that the number of figures in 
the numerator to the right of it is equal to the 
number of cyphers in the denominator, and hence 
does away with the necessity of writing the de- 
nominator. 

Instruction in Decimals must begin by making 
pupils thoroughly acquainted with the Decimal 
E"otation. They must be taught both to read and 
to write Decimals with facility. The Decimal Nota- 
tion may be taught in the same manner as the 
notation of integers ; but this trouble need scarcely 
be taken, as pupils can almost as easily read or 
write tenths, hundredths, thousmidths, as tens, hun- 
dreds, thousands. 

All the rules in the Addition, Subtraction, Multi- 
plication, or Division of Decimals may be shown to 
be true either by reducing the Decimals to Common 
Fractions, or from the nature of the Notation itself. 
Text-books exhibit both methods, and it is un- 
necessary to detail them here. 

13. Exercises in Compoujid Numbers. — In the 
Compound or Denominate Numbers, the units in- 
crease according to varying scales. These scales 
are fixed by some authority, and follow no regular 
law. Pupils must, therefore, commit them to 
memory; but when the tables of Weights and 
Measures are well understood, the Addition, Sub- 
traction, Multiplication, and Division of Compound 



ARITHMETIC. 325 

lumbers present little difficulty to the learner that 
he has not already encountered in performing the 
same operations with abstract numbers. 

14. Exercises in Proportioyi., and Involution and 
Evolution. — These exercises belong to Pure Arith- 
metic, but they are simply modifications of the four 
fundamental rules. They present no special difii- 
culty in teaching. 

15. Exercises in Arithmetical Applications. — A 
knowledge of Arithmetic is needed in almost 
every kind of business in which men are engaged, 
and, therefore, teachers should make its practical 
applications a prominent part of their instruction. 

In solving practical problems, pupils should be 
required to understand the words in which the 
problem is expressed, to point out the relation of 
the thing required to the thing given, to present a 
neat solution, and to explain their work in concise 
and appropriate language. 

A few additional suggestions will be made. 
Problems that involve but a single principle should 
be given first, and, afterwards, those which involve 
several principles. Text-book or teacher may fur- 
nish a form of solution, but the problems should be 
so arranged that it cannot be followed mechanically. 
Pupils may be required to compose problems involv- 
ing certain given principles or answering certain 
given conditions. Many miscellaneous problems 
add much to the value of an Arithmetic. These 
may be classified according to their relations. Im- 



326 INSTKUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

portant facts may sometimes be incorporated into 
Arithmetical problems. 

The preceding series of exercises do not profess 
to cover the whole ground of Arithmetic ; but it is 
believed that most that is 'essential in teaching it, 
has been presented. 

Algebra. 

Algebra is not a distinct and independent branch 
of Mathematics. It is rather a method of repre- 
senting quantities and of performing Mathematical 
operations, by means of symbols. These symbols 
may represent a portion of time, an extent of space, 
an amount of matter, value, or force, and, also, the 
relations of quantities and the operations which may 
be performed on them. These symbols are used in 
all the higher investigations of Mathematics, and 
they have been productive of results as wonderful 
as the}^ are important. They have enabled mathe- 
maticians to abridge the processes of calculation, to 
overcome difficulties previously considered insur- 
mountable, and to express in beautiful language the 
truths they elicited. All this should recommend 
the study of Algebra to the student. 

Owing to the symbolic character of the language 
used, the truths arrived at by the process of Algebra 
are more general than the truths arrived at by the 
processes of Arithmetic and Geometry. Algebra is 
sometimes called General Arithmetic; in a larger 
sense, it might as appropriately be called General 
Geometry. In Arithmetic, particular numbers are 
given and particular numbers are required. When 
we have demonstrated* a property of a figure in 



ALGEBRA. 327 

Geometry, we are only sure that it is true of the 
class to which that fifi-ure belono:s. But in Alo-ebra, 

O O 7 

all kinds of quantity may be denoted by symbols, 
and the truths arrived at by their means are true of 
all quantities whatever when they are subjected to 
the same operations. From this it appears evident 
that common Arithmetic must be understood before 
its operations can be performed Algebraically, and 
Synthetical should precede Anal^'tical Geometry in 
a course of study. Algebra should be commenced, 
however, before Arithmetic and Geometry have 
been completed. 

In its ordinary signification, Algebra treats of the 
relations and properties of numbers by means of 
symbols, and it is in this sense that we design to 
speak of methods of teaching it. Thus considered, 
methods of teaching it must be quite similar to 
those of teaching Arithmetic, and a brief discussion 
of the subject is all that will be necessary. Any 
one who succeeds in teaching Arithmetic will suc- 
ceed in teaching Algebra. 

In the sense in which Algebra is now considered, 
its Fundamental Idea, and its primary Definitions 
and Axioms must be substantially the same as those 
of Arithmetic. Its Demonstrations difiter only in 
being more general ; and its Applications, in being 
more extensive. These, therefore, need no discus- 
sion here. 

The Definitions peculiar to Algebra must be 
learned by the pupil, not perhaps, all at once, when 
he commences the study, but as he needs them. 

'No Algebraic operation can be performed without 
the use of symbols, and a knowledge of such as are 



328 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

necessary in the solution of simple problems must 
be imparted to learners in their first lessons. The 
others may be learned when they have made some 
progress in the study. All the symbols admit a 
neat classification, and a knowledge of them can be 
most readily acquired in that form. 

In teaching beginners, it is best for the teacher to 
illustrate the meaning of the symbols by using them 
with respect to numbers. Thus : 4 + 2=6; 8 — 3=5; 
4x3=12; 9--3=3; 7x4--2 — 4 + 2=12; ^/16=4;' 
4^=16. He may desire to add 576 to 764; but 
instead of performing the operation Arithmetically, 
he may say " we w^ill let a represent the first number 
and h the second, and the operation can be expressed 
by a + 6." I^early all the symbols used in Algebra 
can be illustrated in this way, and no one but a 
practical teacher can appreciate the value of such 
illustrations to the pupil just commencing the study. 

The Algebraic symbols which are used to repre- 
sent quantity are general in their significance, and 
in this respect, difter from numbers. Pupils can 
make little progress in the study of Algebra until 
they understand this diff"erence. For this purpose 
the teacher cannot do better than to make a series 
of additions, subtractions, multiplications, and divi- 
sions with numbers, and then show that a + 5 + , &c., 
a — h, axh or a h, and a-^b or j are general expres- 
sions for all of them in the order named, and for all 
others possible. Besides, it is easy to give^ illustra- 
tions showing that a, h, c, &c., a:, y, z, &c., can be used 
to represent numbers in whatever manner or to 
whatever things they may be applied. 

The Algebraic idea can perhaps be best commu- 



ALGEBEA. 829 

nicated by requiring pupils to solve suitable Arith- 
metical problems Algebraically. Some of the prob- 
lems in our works on Oral Arithmetic can be 
selected for this purpose, or, as some authors of 
text-books on Algebra have arranged it, they may 
be so placed as to be an introduction to the general 
subject. Pupils seem to see the practical value of 
Algebra more clearly when commenced in this way, 
and, consequently to take more interest in the study. 

After such an introduction to the subject as is out- 
lined in the preceding paragraphs, pupils can be 
taught to add, subtract, multiply, and divide Alge- 
braic quantities, whether integral or fractional; but 
although some elements enter into these operations 
that are not found in similar ones in Arithmetic, 
they involve no new principle of teaching. The 
pupil must be allowed much practice to enable 
him to make a ready and intelligent use of the 
symbols. 

The simplest step in mathematical reasoning may 
be expressed in the form of an Equation ; thus, one 
added to one equals two may be written 1 + 1=2. 
In idea the Equation is constantly before the mind 
of the pupil when engaged in the study of Arith- 
metic ; and, consequently, the teacher will not find 
the task a difficult one to acquaint him with the 
Algebraic form of expressing it. A Pair of Scales 
can be made to furnish a very good illustration of the 
simple form of an Equation. The common weights 
can be placed in one scale, and any body or bodies 
whose weight is unknown can be placed in the other ; 
and, when balanced, the Equation is formed, and 
can be represented by letting x, ?/, z, &c., represent 

28* 



830 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAl!- SCIENCES. 

the known quantities, and a, b, c, &c., represent tiie 
unknown. Having attained the idea of an Alge- 
braic Equation, the pupil must next learn to reduce 
it to its simplest form. For this purpose, he must 
be taught to clear the Equation of fractions, and 
to transpose, collect, and reduce its terms. The 
method of performing these operations and the 
truth of the axioms upon which they depend can 
be illustrated by taking the simplest form of an 
Equation ; as 4=4, and showing that equals may be 
added to or subtracted from equals, multiplied or 
divided by equals, and the results will be equal. 
In Equations containing two or more unknown 
quantities, the various methods of elimination must 
be explained and illustrated. The diiferent methods 
of solving Quadratic Equations and the forms to 
which such Equations can be reduced must undergo 
thorough discussion. The theories of all kinds of 
Equations should be impressed upon the pupil's 
mind by practice in solving numerous, well-graded, 
and judiciously-selected examples and problems in- 
volving them. These problems may be divided 
into two parts : first, that which relates to the for- 
mation of the Equation ; and, second, that which 
relates to the solution of it. The formation of the 
Equation consists in observing the facts given, in 
noting their relations, in finding the . equality be- 
tween the known and the unknown, and in express- 
ing that equality in Algebraic language. Having 
attained the elements of a problem, the formation 
of an Equation expressing these elements is a syn- 
thetic, while the solution of the problem is an 
analytic, process. The teacher may require one 



GEOMETRY. 331 

pupil to form an Equation for a problem, another 
to solve it, while still another is engaged in mak- 
ing a problem to answer the conditions of a given 
Equation. 

Perceiving no necessity for pursuing the subject 
further, it may be well to remark in conclusion, 
that the ends for which Als^ebra is studied are 
similar to those for which Arithmetic is studied, 
that the general conditions which must be observed 
in their attainment are the same, and that the sug- 
gestions mentioned in reference to conducting reci- 
tations in Arithmetic or arranging its object-matter 
for study apply equally well to like questions in 
teaching Algebra. 

Geometry. 

The Etymology of the word would lead us to 
suppose that Geometry has reference to measuring 
the earthy and no doubt it had this reference in 
early times ; for the necessities of the race would 
compel them to adopt some means of measurement 
long before abstract truths like those now composing 
the science of Geometry could be appreciated, much 
less reduced to a system. 

Geometry as now understood, may be defined as 
the science of form. Its Fundamental Idea is space. 
There are two kinds of form, pure and real. Pure 
form is a portion of space limited in idea but not in 
fact. Real form is a portion of space limited in fact. 
Geometry proper treats only of pure forms, but it 
may be applied to real forms. 

Geometry furnishes the most perfect model of a 
deductive science. It may be considered a type of 



832 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

all the rest, l^o Mathematician douhts that its 
basis rests upon the Idea of space. Its Definitions 
and Axioms are better understood than those of 
any other of the same class of sciences. The De- 
monstrations which form the body of it, comprise a 
beautifuil system of applied logic, each admitting 
an easy reduction to the syllogistic form. And its 
Applications are among the most important in the 
practical affairs of life. 

The two most common divisions of Geometry are 
Elementary Geometry, and Higher or Transcendental 
Geometry. Elementary Geometry treats of the line 
and the circle. Higher Geometry embraces the 
consideration of all curves except the circle. A 
brief discussion of methods of teaching Elementary 
Geometry is all that is contemplated in this con- 
nection. 

Elementary Geometry as we find it in books like 
those of Euclid and Legendre, is not a study for 
children. Its abstract conceptions and long pro- 
cesses of reasoning require for their full compre- 
hension, minds of some maturity and some discip- 
line. The idea of form, however, must be one of 
the earliest which springs up in the mind of a child ; 
and it would seem to follow that he can receive 
instruction in Geometry at as early an age as in 
Arithmetic. It may be shown that this theoretical 
conclusion can be verified in practice. 

Young children can learn to distinguish a great 
many Geometrical forms ; as a line, a square, a circle, 
a triangle, a rectangle, a cone, a pyramid, a cylinder, 
a prism, kc, &c. For this purpose, they can be 
taught to draw them on their slates or on the black- 



. GEOMETEY. 833 

board, and tliey can be shown blocks which represent 
them as wholes, .or are cut into sections of which 
they can be engaged in making them. 

Young children can also be taught the meaning 
of many Geometrical terms. It is not meant that 
abstract definitions should be given ; but certain 
Geometrical terms can be so illustrated as to render 
them comprehensible to children. The following 
are examples : a plane, an atigle and its different 
Jcirids, the different kinds of triangles, sl perpendicular, 
a diagonal, parallel lines, the parts of a circle, chords, 
polygons, the hinds of prisms, kc, &c. 

IVIany Geometrical truths can be made known to 
children as matters of fact. They can perceive these 
truths without being able to demonstrate them, that 
is, they can perceive the particular truth, but cannot 
make it general. It is not a difficult thing, with 
blocks suitably made, or pieces of pasteboard suitably 
prepared, to shotv children that " If one straight line 
meet another straight line, the sum of the adjacent 
angles will be equal to two right- an gles ;" "When 
if two straight lines intersect each other, the opposite 
or vertical angles, which the}^ form, are equal ;" "In 
every triangle the sum of the three angles is equal 
to two right angles;" " Every triangle is half the 
parallelogram which has the same base and the 
same altitude ;" " The square described on the 
hypothenuse of a right-angled triangle is equivalent 
to the sum of the squares described on the other 
two sides;" &c., &c. A well-graded course of in- 
Btruction of this kind, if judiciously given, would 
furnish very valuable discipline to children of the 
age of ten or twelve years, and greatly diminish for 



334 iNSTEucTiojsr in the formal sciences. 

them tlie labor of Geometrical demonstration when 
their minds become sufficiently mature to enter upon 
it. Besides, it seems to be the natural method. 
Solid objects first meet the eye, not points, and 
lines, and angles ; and here, as elsewhere, the method 
of proceeding should be from the concrete to the 
abstract — from the particular to the general. 

When pupils are prepared to understand Geomet- 
rical Demonstrations, they should be supplied with 
a suitable text-book. The iirst pages of such a book 
will present to them certain Axioms and Definitions 
relating to Geometry which must be carefully studied. 
If the author of the book has done his duty, its sub- 
ject-matter will be arranged in a rigidly logical 
order, starting with the simplest and most inde- 
pendent propositions, and containing no missing, 
imperfect, or superfluous link in the chain. 

Geometrical propositions admit of two kinds of 
demonstration ; the first, with axioms, definitions, 
or previously proven propositions as premises, seeks 
to show that the proposition to be demonstrated is 
included in these premises, and is therefore true ; 
while the second consists in forming hypotheses 
which contradict the proposition, and in reasoning 
upon these hypotheses until conclusions are reached 
which contradict truths before known, and thus 
prove the proposition by demonstrating that the 
hypotheses which contradict it are false. The 
former of these methods of demonstration is called 
direct, and the latter, indirect, or reduetio ad ahsurdum. 
Both are equally philosophical ; but where a choice 
is optional between them, the first as the more 
simple is generally preferred to the second. Some 



GEOMETEY. 835 

propositions admit both kinds of demonstration, 
and many can be demonstrated by different methods 
of the same kind. With snch propositions, when a 
pupil has followed the text-book in one method of 
demonstration, he might be greatly benefited by an 
effort to find others. It would be an admirable 
feature in a text-book to present here and there 
undemonstrated propositions, because pupils ought 
not only to be trained to follow the reasoning of 
others ; but to invent processes of reasoning for 
themselves. The connection between certain propo- 
sitions is so obvious, that ^ pupil, after having 
demonstrated one, ought to be able to infer the next 
w^ithout being helped to it by the book or teacher. 
Original thinking is always much more valuable 
than that w^hicli is second-hand. If the teacher 
desire fully to impress upon the minds of his pupils 
the truths they demonstrate, he should teach them 
to make an application of them at once in the solu- 
tion of well-selected problems. Mensuration might 
be very profitably taught in connection with Geom- 
etry. It might be well also to require the pupil 
sometimes to give Algebraic demonstrations of 
Geometrical propositions, and to solve Algebraic 
problems by Geometrical methods. 

In conducting a recitation in Geometry, the prop- 
osition should be stated, and the diagram drawn, 
from memory; and the demonstration should be 
given clearly and precisely, in the pupil's own lan- 
guage. In placing letters or numbers to the dia- 
gram, it is best to use them in a different order 
from the text-book, or the practice of demonstrating 
without a diagram may be productive of benefit, 



336 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

especially in reviews. In addition to this, the pupil 
should be taught to give a complete analysis of each 
demonstration. He should be able to tell — 

1st. The kiyid of quantity under consideration. 

2d. The relation of the demonstrated proposition 
to those which have preceded it. 

8d. The kind of demonstration used. 

4th. The axioms, definitions, or previously de- 
monstrated truths used as premises. 

5th. The relation of the conclusion to the premises. 

6th. The relation of Corrolaries, Scholiums, and 
Lemmas, to the principal proposition. 

m. Logic. 

The aim of this book does not require that Logic 
should undergo a lengthy discussion. Much has to 
be omitted, and the vast majority of teachers will 
miss a discussion on Logic less than one on most 
other branches taught in our schools. Still some- 
thing must be said, and it is proposed to say it 
under two heads : 1. The utility of Logic as a study ; 
2. Tlic methods of teaching Logic, 

1. The Utility of Logic as a Study. — Some extra- 
vagant claims have been made by Logicians in res- 
pect to the utility of their favorite study. It has 
been called the Art of Arts, the Science of Sciences, 
Catharticon Lntellectus, Caput et Apex Philosophice, kc. ; 
and these names indicate the estimation in which 
it was held by the authors who used them. But 
while these claims should be moderated, it will ap- 
pear from what is to be said that the utility of Logic 



LOGIC. 837 

is such as to demand for it a prominent place in 
every liberal course of study. 

Logic is a useful study in itself. Thought, as 
thought, presents a noble object for investigation. 
It is man who thinks and thinking is his highest 
attribute. A thought is greater than a thing. 
Things pass away, thoughts are immortal. If 
science as science is worthy of study anywhere, it 
is surely worthy of it when it treats of the laAvs of 
thought. "And is it nothing," says a writer, "to 
watch the secret workshop in which nature fabri- 
cates cognitions and thpughts, and to penetrate into 
the sanctuary of self-consciousness, to the end that, 
having learnt to know ourselves, we may be qua- 
lified rightly to understand all else?" 

Logic is a useful study on account of its objective 
relations. Men can do nothing well unless they 
think well. All science and all art .are the fruit of 
right thinking. Wrong thinking is at the root of 
all error. In this sense. Logic would almost be 
entitled to be called Ars Artium or Seientia Scienti- 
arum. It is only in theory, however, that Logic 
holds this place, for the best Logicians are far from 
linding all truth or escaping all error. All that 
can be claimed is that as reasoning takes place in 
every thing we do, the study of the laws of thought 
must aid us in reasoning correctly. Besides, nature 
in all its departments fills with matter certain logical 
forms, and cannot be well understood in itself or 
well arranged into systems of science without a 
knowledge of these forms. Logic is an indispen- 
sable instrument in scientific investigation. 

Logic is a useful study because it disciplines the 
29 



338 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

Understanding. Tlie Understanding is the faculty 
by which we reason. The end of Logic is to reason 
welL Hence it follows that the study of Logic dis- 
ciplines the Understanding. It not only imparts 
skill but power, for reasoning about reasoning must 
be at least as capable of strengthening and develop- 
ing the Understanding as reasoning about some- 
thing else. 

2. MetJiods of teaching Logic. — If the nature of 
Logic is as we have stated it to be, its subject-matter 
will be composed of Definitions and Axioms, Deduc- 
tions and Demo7istrations, and Aj^plications. 

Every one who has the least idea of Logic is 
aware the first step in teaching the science must 
consist in making pupils acquainted with the defi- 
nitions of concept, judgment, reasoning ; term, prop- 
osition, syllogism, induction, deduction, &c. Indeed, 
Logic consists in much greater part than Mathe- 
matics in definitions and explications of the pro- 
ducts of the intuitions of the Reason. The axioms 
of Logic, too, admit as clear a statement as those 
of Mathematics and bear the same relation to the 
science. Hamilton speaks of Fundamental Laws 
of Thought, and slates them as follows : 1. The Law 
of Identity ; 2. TJie Law of Co7itradiction ; 3. The 
Law of Excluded Middle ; 4. The Law of Reason and 
Consequent. Other Logicians give substantially the 
same laws. But all of these laws admit of state- 
ment in the form of axioms, and many Logicians 
have so stated them. 

The Body of Pure Logic is arranged by Hamilton, 
and substantially so by many others, into two great 



LOGIC. 339 

classes wliicli may be expressed as follows : 1. The 
Means of Thinking ; 2. The Methods of Thhiking. 
The Means of Thinking include Concepts, Judg- 
ments, and Reasonings. Concepts are the products 
of conception. Judgments are the arrangement 
of concepts as subjects and predicates. Eeasonings 
are processes by which one judgment is deduced 
from another, by means of a third which is inter- 
mediate. Reasonings, when fully stated, assume 
the form of syllogisms, of which concepts and judg- 
ments are the elements. The Methods of Thinking 
include the doctrine of Definition, the doctrine of 
Division, and the doctrine of Proof. Logical defi- 
nition is the complete development of a concept. 
Logical division is the separation of a whole into its 
parts according to their relations. Proof consists 
in deducing on& judgment from another known to 
be true. 

This whole Body of Pure Logic is made up in the 
main of definitions and judgments which are known 
to be true only by intuition. A pupil who does not 
realize in his own mind the thing spoken of will not 
be profited in the least bj^the words of the Logician. 
A teacher of Logic must be constant in his efforts 
to induce his pupils to investigate the products of 
thought as they lie in their own minds. The study 
of Psychology should precede that of Formal Logic, 
both because the habit of introspection into one's 
own mind is a valuable auxiliary in the study of 
Logic, and because concrete mental phenomena 
are more easily understood than those which are 
abstract. 

Logic has also deductions and demonstrations, 



840 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES. 

but their nature and tlie methods of teaching them 
have been sufficiently characterized in. discussing 
the "Formal Sciences in GeneraL" 

In regard to teaching Logic as a whole, it may 
be remarked further, that the method for beginners 
should be synthetic. Thought must be presented 
iirst in its elements, and afterwards in its connec- 
tions. To analyze thought, requires a knowledge 
of thought, and this is what the pupil does not 
possess but seeks. Besides, a system of Logic i^ a 
growth. It commences with a germ in the Reason 
and develops all its parts into a compact system. 
This order of growth should be the order of study. 

Logic has its applications in all the departments 
of science and art; and to attain skill in making 
these applications is the chief end of the study. Chil- 
dren begin to reason when very young. Through- 
out their whole course of study, it is the duty of 
parents and teachers to train them to reason well — 
to train them by correcting their mistakes, by teach- 
ing them to correct their own mistakes and the 
mistakes of others, by setting them a good example 
of logical reasoning. Thus taught they may be- 
come practical Logicians without learning Logic. 
All this training, however, is rather mechanical than 
scientific in its character. Valuable for children, 
with more mature minds it must give place to some- 
thing higher. The science of Logic must be studied 
by all who wish to make an intelligent application 
of its principles. 

The study of Logic in itself will not make a good 
reasoner. A person may know all the kinds, and 



LOGIC. 3-il 

figures, and modes of the Syllogism and still be 
unable to construct one that will answer the condi- 
tions of practical life. The teacher who would make 
his pupils good reasoners must not only show them 
how reasoning is done or why it has certain forms, 
but he must teach them to reason. The faculty of 
reasoning itself mmst be exercised in order to grow. 
The laws of thinkins: must be tauo:ht, and then 
practiced until all thinking is governed by them — 
ujitil they " become identified with the spontaneous 
activity of the reason." 

Logic as taught in the, schools is too formal. 
More examples should be given ; more practical 
applications should be required. Pupils should be 
exercised in giving definitions, in making divisions, 
in constructing syllogisms, in analyzing arguments 
and demonstrations, and in building up systems of 
science. Every lesson in science should be made a 
lesson in Applied Logic, and thus the young would 
be prepared for the great work of life. 

29 * 



CHAPTER IV. 

INSTRUCTION IN THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

Facts ai^e observed ; these facts are arranged into 
classes; general laws are inferred from them, and 
thus the Empirical Sciences are built up. The Em- 
pirical sciences comprel^nd the systematic arrange- 
ment of the generalizations of experience. They 
embrace a large number of particular sciences : as 
Astronomy, I^^atural Philosophy, Chemistry, Mete- 
orology, Geology, Botany, Zoology, Mineralogy, 
Geographj^, Physiology, Psychology, &c., &c. A 
classification of them may be made as follows : The 
Mechanical Sciences, as Astronomy, Mechanics, 
Optics, &c. ; the Chemical Sciences, as Chemistry, 
Galvanism, &c. ; the Classificatory Sciences, as 
Botany, Zoology, &c. ; the Organic Sciences, as 
Physiology, Anatomy, &c. ; and the Psychological 
Sciences, as those sciences of mind which are 
founded upon the facts revealed by consciousness. 

It matters little here, however, what particular 
branches of study are included in the Empirical 
Sciences, or of what classification they are suscepti- 
ble ; since all of them consist of facts which must 
be observed, of classes which must be formed, and 
of inferences which must be drawn, or laws which 
must be applied ; and, hence, all of them must be 
taught by the same methods. 

(342) 



INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 843 

It ought not to be necessary to say anything in 
regard to the importance of the study of the Empi- 
rical Sciences, nor would anything be said were it 
not for the fact that such studies are much neglected 
in our American schools. A large proportion of 
the student's time, both in Common School and 
College, is taken up with the study of Language 
and Mathematics, and he has little left to devote 
to acquiring a knowledge of the great science of 
nature. 

Few sciences can be more useful to man than the 
Empirical Sciences. These sciences treat of the 
light by which he sees, the heat by which he is 
warmed, the air which he breathes, the earth 
from which he draws his sustenance, the animals 
and plants that minister to his wants, and his own 
body and mind. There is not one single occupation 
in which a person may not derive great advantage 
from a knowledge of some of these sciences. They 
relate to life in all its forms and circumstances. 

Few sciences can furnish more valuable mental 
discipline than the Empirical sciences. They exer- 
cise the senses, the perceptive powers, the judgment, 
the imagination, and the reason. They present 
facts that a child may comprehend, and problems 
that men like Bacon, E'ewton, Franklin, and Hum- 
boldt have not been able to solve. Minds devoted 
exclusivel}^ to the study of the Abstract or Kational 
sciences, are apt to be dogmatic. They would like to 
control the universe with laws of their own makins^. 
They form their notions of what ought to he, and grow 
captious if these notions are not found to correspond 
with what is. They dwell in an ideal world which 



844 INSTEUCTION IN EMPIEICAL SCIENCES. 

is sometimes quite different from the real. The 
results of this mode of thinking appeared in the 
dreamy speculations of the Scholastic Philosophy, 
the bad effects of which it required all the strength 
of the mighty mind of Bacon to neutralize. The 
human intellect can engage in no nobler task than 
the study of the Kational Sciences ; but the disci- 
pline they furnish should be tempered by that which 
comes only from the study of the Empirical Sciences. 
With one hand we may clutch the ideal, if with the 
other we hold fast to the real. The study of the 
Empirical Sciences is calculated to make men 
patient in investigation, slow in the expression of 
their own opinions, and liberal toward the opinions 
of others. 

The Empirical Sciences are peculiarly adapted to 
awaken love for the Creator. It is only the "fool" 
that "hath said in his heart there is no God." The 
wise find the footsteps of a God everywhere, and 
nowhere are they more clearly discerned than in the 
works He has made. These works teem with so 
many proofs of wisdom, evidences of goodness, and 
marks of beauty, that one who studies them must 
have his heart warmed in love and adoration to the 
Being who made them all. Truly, "An undevout 
naturalist must be mad." The Psalmist fitly ex- 
claims, "Whoso is wise, and will observe these 
things, even they shall understand the loving kind- 
ness of the Lord." 

In addition to the strong reasons in favor of the 
study of the Empirical Sciences, which have been 
just stated, two others of a less general application 
will be named. 



INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 845 

A taste for the study of nature tends to lighten 
labor. Labor is not toil to the man that thinks 
while he works. All schemes tha,t contemplate 
dignifying labor without educating the laborer will 
prove abortive. The farmer who, while he works, 
finds food for thought in animals, insects, plants, 
and soils ; the mechanic who speculates upon the 
properties of matter and the nature of force as he 
deals with them ; the miner who studies strata, and 
veins, and fossils, while he exhumes the treasures 
deep-buried in the earth's bosom, do much to con- 
vert the curse of labor into a blessing. Hugh 
Miller may have cut out and chiseled down as many 
stones as his companions in the quarries of Scotland; 
but he found a pleasure in the task which they could 
not, his head was kept as busy as his hands, he 
worked like a man, not like a slave. 

The study of nature gives pleasant employment 
in leisure hours. Large numbers of persons in 
every community are engaged in indoor occupations. 
For these, linguistic, mathematical, or metaphysical 
studies would be inappropriate. They want exercise 
with study. This they can have by interesting them- 
selves in studies like Botany, Mineralogy, Geology, 
or Entomology. What rich rewards in health, 
strength, and pure intellectual and moral enjoyment 
would accrue to merchants, mechanics, lawyers, 
teachers, and others who lead sedentary lives ; if 
they would spend their leisure hours in the explora- 
tion of the neighborhoods in which they live in 
search of those objects that so much interest the 
student of nature. A taste for IN'atural History, too, 
may be gratified in travelling. Nature is so full of 



346 INSTEUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIEN-CES. 

objects worthy our study, that they present them- 
selves to the attentive passenger even in the swift- 
moving rail-car. If delays occur, and they will 
occur in travelling, while others grow weary and 
impatient, the naturalist gives himself employment, 
and keeps himself in good humour by reading a 
fresh page in the great book of nature. He needs 
no artificial help "to kill time," for the hours pass 
quickly when nature presents her truth and her 
beauty to his contemplation. 

It is my purpose to speak, first, of methods of 
teaching the Empirical Sciences in General; and, 
second, of methods of teaching Geography. The 
reason I desire to discuss methods of teaching 
Geography more particularly, is because it is one of 
the branches almost universally taught in our Com- 
mon Schools ; and because by it can be illustrated 
the methods of teaching the other sciences of the 
same class. \ Geography, as usually taught contains 
matter which belongs to History, but this does not 
necessitate any change in methods of teaching it. 

I. The Empirical Sciences in General. 

The foundation of the Empirical Sciences is facts 
and phenomena that are open to observation. Chil- 
dren begin to acquire these facts and notice these 
phenomena as soon as they can use their senses; 
and by the time they are ^ve years of age, their 
stock of knowledge of this kind may be made truly 
wonderful. Elsewhere, under the head of Instruc- 
tion in the Elements of Knowledge, an effort was 



THE EMPIKICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 347 

made to point out the metliod by which such infor- 
mation could be pleasantly imparted to children, 
here, therefore, on this point, no detailed discussion 
will be necessary. I w^ill say, however, that I con- 
sider it the main business of teachers in Primary 
Schools to teach their pupils to observe, to make 
them acquainted with the fiicts and phenomena of 
nature. To do this, nature's own method must be 
adopted. A child in a ramble over a mountain, 
through a meadow, along a rivulet, about a grove, 
w^ill notice objects and may observe phenomena that 
belong technically to all the Empirical Sciences. 
Nature scatters her treasures in rich profusion every- 
where, and the child picks them up where he finds 
them. His attention cannot be confined, without a 
loss of interest, to one class of natural objects, much 
less to the minute difierences which often distinguish 
genera and species, or the scientific terms which are 
applied to the peculiarities of individuals. Von 
Raumer in his GescMchte der Pedagogik has some 
excellent remarks on this subject. I quote from 
Barnard's American Journal of Education w^hich 
expresses the ideas of the author very correctly. 
Von Eaumer says, " A child commencing the study 
of ]!^atural Science should first examine, in all direc- 
tions, the neighborhood of his residence, and should 
make himself so thoroughly acquainted with it that 
he can call it up before his mind whenever he chooses. 
Such an acquaintance is the result of the unconscious 
and fresh pleasure which youth, joyful and free from 
scientific anxieties, will find for itself in such an 
examination, obtaining in this artless way a simple 
general impression of the vicinity, not forced upon 



848 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

him artificially by a teacher. He is not teased, while 
he is rejoicing in the bine heavens and the rapid 
motions of the clouds, in the oak woods and flowery 
meadows, where the butterflies play, by a professor 
with a cyanometer, to measure the blue of the sky 
with, nor by a recommendation not to stare into the 
woods, but rather to ascertain whether the oaks are 
Quercus Rohur or Quercus Peduiiculata; or, not to 
look at the flowers in the meadow all at once, as if 
they were a yellow carpet, but to take his Linn reus 
and determine the species of this ranunculus. !N'o 
entomologist is setting him to chase butterflies and 
impale them. ^N'either is the youth, when inspired 
to devotion by the snowy Alps, glittering in moon- 
light, like so many spiritual, silvery forms of giants, 
annoyed by a geologist talking to him of granite, 
gneiss, and limestone, or of the junction and incli- 
nation of strata. The young enjoy the heavens and 
the earth as. a susceptible painter or an ingenious 
poet does. In this first paradisaic pleasure is planted 
the seed of the perception of an intellectual world, 
whose secrets will not be fully ascertained and 
understood even after the longest and most active 
life of scientific effort. But most teachers, by the 
dispersion of these simjDle impressions of nature, 
forcibly destroy these earliest pleasures of children, 
the brightness of the imaginary world which they 
see. Even the great Pestalozzi falls into an error on 
this point, when he says ' It is not in the woods or 
meadows that the child should be put, to become 
acquainted with trees and plants. They do not 
there stand in the order best calculated to display 
the characters of the dififerent families,' &c. That 



THE EMPIRICAL SCIEXCES IX GENERAL. 34-9 

is, we ought to take tlie cliild into a botanic garden, 
arranged on the Linnsean system, so that he may 
stud}^ plants in the order of their species. To me 
this seems like saying that the child ought not to 
hear a symphony because that would be a mere 
chaos of sounds to him; he should rather have 
played to him, first, the first violin, part, then the 
second, then the parts of the bass viols, the flutes, 
clarionets, trumpets, &c. It is true that in this way 
he would hear the separate parts, but not the bond 
of thought which makes them a symphony. Jahn 
was much more judicious in his gymnastic walks, 
when he said, not ' we are going botanizing, geolo- 
gizing, or entomologizing,' but merely 'we are 
going to walk.' How much more naturally do our 
youth, when the bird-of-passage instinct seizes them 
at the university, wander through the father-land 
and rejoice in its grandeur, and lay it deeply to heart, 
without any idea of a premature, and painful, and 
usually repulsive studjdng of a particular subject. 
I hate this analyzing and lifeless elementarizing 
of the first youthful impressions of nature — this 
foolish, superficial, heartless, frivolous directing of 
the understanding prematurely out of its natural 
path — which is so sure to chill the youthful heart 
and render it old before its time. The utmost 
attainments of a mind thus trained must be — unless 
aided by remarkable natural qualities — to observe 
with the bodily eye ; to use the reason, but not with 
pleasure ; to derive mere lifeless ideas from creation ; 
and to represent the objects thus conceived in equally 
lifeless descriptions, like the ghastly wax figures 
which afford a repulsive imitation of living men." 

30 



850 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

The Slim of what has been said is that the first in- 
struction of children in the Empirical Sciences 
should mainly consist in exhibiting to them interest- 
ing objects and phenomena; in allowing them to 
look, handle, and ask questions ; and in- giving 
opportunity for the free exercise of their youthful 
imagination. A teacher may guide them in their 
explorations of the neighborhood, direct their obser- 
vations, make inquiries, give explanations, conduct 
experiments, call things b}^ their right names ; but 
he must be careful to do it in such a manner as not 
to check their play of fancy or chill their flow of 
feeling. 

When pupils have acquired a taste for the study 
of nature, when they have learned to derive rich 
pleasure from a communion with her rocks, her 
hills, her valleys, her flowers, her trees, her insects, 
and her animals; wdien they stand w-ith breathless 
interest while Air Pump, Magic Lantern, or Gal- 
vanic Battery reveals to them some astonishing 
phenomena, it is time for them to take a second 
step in the course of instruction of which we are 
speaking — to commence the analysis of the objects 
w^ith wdiich they have become acquainted and the 
study of their several parts. This task is heavy 
only to those who have no interest in it. Love here 
as everywhere lightens labor. What then is the 
best way of acquainting pupils with the particular 
facts of the Empirical Sciences ? That is, how 
shall they proceed to analyze the general impres- 
sions which we noAV suppose them to possess ? 

It is well to remark first, that the facts to which 
the attention of pupils is called should be suited to 



THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IX GEXEEAL. 351 

tlieir mental capacity. [Mature is a vast store-house 
of facts ; some of which lie oiDeii upon the surface, 
while others are so deeply hidden that it requires 
much searching to find them ; some are so simple 
that a child can understand them, while others are 
still unaccounted, for by the ablest philosophers. 
Among such an infinite variety of facts, the teacher 
will point his class to those which are calculated 
to interest and instruct them. As young children 
are not able to observe closely or study much, they 
cannot be confined to classes of facts belonging to 
any particular science ; but must be permitted to 
acquire knowledge in the same unsystematic order, 
if such an expression is allowable, which nature 
evinces, when she throws together rocks, trees, 
flowers, birds, insects, running streams, and sporting 
fishes. When older, the attention can be more 
easily confined to facts belonging to the same science 
or subject. 

The teacher should not rely upon verbal descrip- 
tions of facts or phenomena when a different course 
is open to him. The most skilful and enlivening 
word-painting makes a weak impression upon the 
mind in comparison with the real thing. The 
eye seems to be the most open inlet to the soul. 
Hence, children delight in examining curiosities in 
nature and art, in looking at pictures, and in wit- 
nessing experiments. The exhibition of a fiower, 
a mineral, a shell, a fossil, a bone, the picture of a 
strange animal, or the falling of a feather and a 
guinea in the exhausted receiver of an Air Pump, 
will convey better ideas to a child at a glance than 
the most elaborate description of the same things. 



852 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

Chemistry and Natural Philosophy require full ex- 
periments; Physiology can he illustrated hy pre- 
senting the heart, stomach, bones, &c., of animals 
whose organic structure is similar to that of man ; 
Botany, Mineralogy, Geology, and Zoology, are 
best learned where rich cabinets supply specimens, 
or in the field ; and Psychology can only be appre- 
ciated by those who closely observe the actions of 
others, and that which passes within their own 
minds. "Wherever possible, pupils should be re- 
quired to repeat the experiments made by the 
teacher, to draw objects, and give written and oral 
descriptions of them. When specimens are want- 
ing or facts cannot be tangibly presented, the un- 
known may sometimes be brought vividly before 
the mind by comparing it with the known which 
resembles it. 

The pupil himself should be taught to search for 
facts. He should be appointed to conduct experi- 
ments, to make explorations, to give descriptions 
of natural objects. While the vast majority of men 
have eyes that see, they do not see, and ears that 
hear, they do not hear, much that takes place about 
them. They are blind and deaf to the beauty and 
truth of nature. It is the teacher's duty to awaken 
the dull senses of his pupils from their torpor, and 
send them out to gather fresh facts from the rich 
fields of nature ripe for the harvest. He should 
instruct them to make and handle simple articles 
of philosophical apparatus ; to observe the phenom- 
ena of rain, hail, snow, dew, frost, ice, &c. ; to 
notice the habits of insects, the growth of vegeta- 
tion, the peculiarities of animals, &c. ; to visit mu- 



THE EMPIKICAL SCIE^^CES IX GENERAL. 353 

seums and menageries, kc. ; to make excursions 
to quarries and mines, meadows and mountains, 
springs, rivulets, and rivers, &c. The pupils thus 
learn to depend upon themselves, and not to rely 
wholly for help upon text-book and teacher. If 
pupils can be taught to find pleasure in collecting- 
facts, the work of teaching them is almost done ; 
for to such, science is itself a pillar of cloud by day 
and a pillar of fire by night to guide them onward. 
The third step in a course of study in the Em- 
pirical Sciences, is the classification of facts. Indi- 
vidual facts are so numerous that it is impossible 
to make much progress in the study of the Empii*- 
ical Science without the use of classification. In 
the infancy of science, classifications were founded 
upon adventitious circumstances ; but as further 
discoveries were made such classifications gave 
way to others founded upon inherent relationships. 
Guided by an intelligent teacher, pupils can be 
taught to classify objects properly, commencing of 
course with objects whose resemblances are obvious 
and passing on gradually to others in which they 
are more hidden. Many classes among plants, 
minerals, insects, and animals can be determined 
by the general appearance of the individuals compo- 
sing them. I have succeeded best in imparting an 
idea of classification by descending from the general 
to the particular, from the class to the individual. 
My pupils have not experienced much difliculty, 
after having seen a few specimens of the Umbel- 
liferse or Yiolacese and heard their characteristics 
described, in finding the right place for other indi- 
vidual plants belonging to these Orders ; and, so I 

30* 



854 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

tliink it would be with the Quartz family among 
Minerals, the Asteriadae among Radiates, the Ce- 
phalopods among Mollusks, the Lepidoptera among 
Insects, the Ophidians among Reptiles, the Gralla- 
tores among Birds, the Rodentia among Mammals, 
and hundreds of other orders, classes, genera, and 
species equally well marked. The same method 
of teaching is applicable to the classes of facts and 
phenomena belonging to Astronomy, Chemistry, 
^Natural Philosophy, Psychology, and other similar 
sciences. The only difference is that the principle 
of classification is not made so prominent in these 
sciences as in those previously referred to. 

These remarks are made in full view of the fact 
that the lines separating the divisions which have 
been made in the sciences are sometimes very ob- 
scure. Men who have made certain sciences a life- 
long study are not always agreed about them. But 
the judicious teacher will confine his pupil in the 
beginning to the study of those classes which are 
most easily determined, and afterwards, when pre- 
pared, he can enter into the '' debatable ground" of 
the subject. 

In making original classifications, it may be well 
to remark that a sufficient number of facts should 
be collected before it is safe to form classes ; that in 
forming classes, permanent and inherent relation- 
ships only should be regarded ; that artificial systems 
should be wholly discarded ; and that genera and 
species should be discriminated by never-failing 
marks. 

A fourth step in a course of study in the Empirical 
Sciences is the inferring of laws or principles. The 



THE EMPIRICAL SCIEN-CES IN" GENERAL. 355 

collection and classification of facts constitute only 
the introductory parts of the Empirical Sciences. 
Connecting principles must be found to bind these 
classes together into systems. Counting stamens, 
marking spots, measuring scales, or observing 
phenomena in general, is not science. Nothing 
takes place without law. We can only notice 
effects, their causes must be inferred. We have the 
consequents, but must find the antecedents. This 
process is called inductive reasoning ; and the ques- 
tion now is, how shall pupils be taught to reason in 
that Avay. 

A child reasons inductively when he learns that 
the hot stove burns his hand, that snow makes it 
cold, that a lump of sugar dissolves when placed in 
a cup of tea. In all these instances, the antecedent 
and consequent appear close together ; a child has 
no difficulty in making the connection. With young 
children, the teacher must imitate this method ; and, 
when nature conceals the consequent or places it 
at a distance from the antecedent, he must show 
their relation by carefully planned experiments and 
judiciously chosen illustrations. More advanced 
pupils, of course, need less help. 

Text-books on certain of the Empirical Sciences 
sometimes present facts and afterwards state the 
principle involved, and sometimes announce the 
principle and then explain it by reference to the 
facts from which it was deduced. In building up a 
new science, the former method is the only safe one; 
but in teaching, either maybe legitimately followed. 
The statement of a proposition, in treating of an 
Empirical Science before the facts which prove it 



356 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

have been presented, is merely a matter of conveni- 
ence, and does not essentially change the method of 
reasoning which is from the particular to the general. 
Teachers will find it an interesting exercise to en- 
gage their pupils in deducing principles from given 
facts, and in accounting for certain facts by known 
principles. 

It is proper to add that inductions should be made 
with much caution. Both teacher and pupil must 
be actuated by a sincere, desire to obtain the truth 
— to interpret nature correctly. Hypotheses may 
be assumed, but they must be considered only as 
hypotheses until carefully tested by facts. The 
moment a teacher makes prominent some facts 
while he conceals others or distorts them through 
prejudice or preconceived opinions, the moment he 
adopts an hypothesis and begins to enforce it dog- 
matically, he becomes a false teacher and does his 
pupils a great wrong. Hasty generalizations have 
been the bane of science. The progress of the race 
has been greatly retarded by the resistance new 
truth has met from old opinions. A teacher had 
better communicate his fxcts and then tell his pupils 
to doubt in regard to their explanation, than to lead 
them into errors. Intelligent skepticism in matters 
of science is better than blind faith. He best 
studies nature who does it* with a sincere desire to 
find the truth, and is willing to accept what he finds. 
Let no one be misled by " idols of the tribe," " idols 
of the den," "idols of the market," or "idols of the 
theatre." In searching for causes be sure that no 
active element lurks in the antecedent for which 
allowance is not made, and that which seems to be 



THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 357 

the consequent is not wholly or in part a mere con- 
tingency. The prominent elements in the character 
of a successful student of the Empirical Sciences are 
an enthusiastic love of nature and the most careful 
circumspection in its investigation. 

The process which, after Mill, may be called the 
"Concrete Deductive Method," forms the fifth step 
in learning an Empirical Science. This method 
consists in bringing new facts or new phenomena 
under laws already ascertained inductively, or in 
determining the effect of such laws in new circum- 
stances. Comparatively few new^ laws have of late 
been discovered in the Empirical Sciences, but the 
laws already discovered have received a much more 
extended application. The tendency of science now 
is to simplify laws, and to multiply facts, i^ew 
effects are being constantly deduced from laws long 
since known. In this, indeed, consist mainly the 
triumphs of modern science. Such a standpoint 
has been reached by some of our best J^aturalists 
that certain facts have been anticipated long before 
their actual discovery. 

When pupils reach this stage of progress in their 
course of study, they will need little prompting to 
push forward. Knowing laws and the facts from 
which these laws were .inferred, they will naturally 
feel an interest in testing their validity in new cir- 
cumstances. Our text-books which treat of the 
Empirical Sciences should contain many facts and 
phenomena arranged miscellaneously, in order that 
pupils might have exercise in accounting for them ; 
or nature herself misrht be used as the text-book. 
A pupil has but to go forth with his eyes open, and 



358 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

nature everywhere, above, around, beneath, will ask 
him to apply the scientific principles he may have 
learned. Hardly anywhere as yet do teachers 
estimate as highly as they should the value of 
scientific experiments. First made acquainted with 
laws by such experiments, pupils should be allowed 
to witness their effects in other circumstances — to 
repeat them, and to plan others for themselves. 

There is a sixth step that must be taken before a 
course of study in the Empirical Sciences can be con- 
sidered as completed. The observation of facts, the 
generalizations of experience, and the extension of 
known laws do not constitute the whole of science. 
Eternal, universal, and necessary principles control 
all facts and all inductions from facts. It is thus 
with mathematical, logical, and metaphysical prin- 
ciples. Aristotle says: "The general principles 
necessary to knowledge are axioms.'' An Empirical 
Science is like a ladder, it needs support at both 
ends — it, cannot account either for the existence of 
facts, or for the genesis of the ideas which embrace 
them. Take an example : heat expands iron ; heat 
expands gold, silver, copper, lead, &c. These are 
facts, and we infer from them that " Heat expands 
all metals." So far inductive science will take us; 
but mark the queries concerning the matter which 
remain unanswered: Are we sure that all metals 
are expanded by heat ? In concluding affirmatively, 
what is the nature of the principle we take for 
granted? How do we become cognizant of such 
things as metals? How do we know one metal 
from another? Why do metals exist? Empirical 
Science is powerless in dealing with such questioua 






THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IIS" GENERAL. 359 

as these, and 3^et similar problems lie about every 
inductive syllogism. The Inductive Philosophy in 
its own field has blessed mankind with rich fruit ; 
but unaccompanied by the recognition of a higher 
philosophy, it would leave us without a personal 
Deity, without a united plan in creation, and would 
lead us finally into the dry Skepticism of Hume, 
the soulless Positivism of Comte, the philosophical 
Pantheism of Spinoza, the cold Logic of Mill, or 
the weak faith of Buckle. 

The teacher who develops the Empirical Sciences 
in their higher departments, will be false to his 
trust if he does not exhibit to his pupils their limita- 
tions — if he does not show them what these sciences 
can accomplish, and where they must fail. The 
creation is the expression of an idea — is a thought 
embodied in matter. The great end of Empirical 
Science is, through facts and inferences, to reach 
this idea, and use it in the further interpretation of 
nature. The idea is not derived by any induction ; 
but it is produced in the reason upon the occasion 
of some experience. Says Ilickok, " Till we attain 
this eternal principle, which, as a living law, the 
Maker of the universe has difl:used all through it 
from centre to circumference, we may stand outside 
and measure and weigh, and overwhelm the un- 
derstanding with the summations of arithmetical 
reckonings, but we shall know nothing of that cen- 
tral working which makes and holds all in one 
concrete cosmos of perpetual beauty and harmony." 
No greater harm could be done to the human spirit 
than to teach it that all sure knowledge must be 
based on facts patent to the senses. It would be to 



860 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

dethrone God and cast the human intellect ont upon 
a sea that has no shore, and from which no hope 
could lift the soul to Heaven. 

Faithful to the study of nature, a few men of 
genius have mounted like Moses to the top of 
Mount Pisgah, up through facts and inferences, 
until, as a reward for their devotion, glimpses of 
the divine plan in creation were flashed into their 
minds, and praising God, they gave the heaven-horn 
truth to men, by whom the revelation will he 
cherished until the end of their generations. I 
hardly dare to name — but among those that must 
be named, are Pythagoras, Plato, Kepler, I^ewton, 
and our own Agassiz, These, and such as these, 
hear the " Music of the Spheres ;" discern the " Soul 
of the world ;" " Think God's thoughts after him ;" 
'' Count themselves little children — standing on the 
shore playing with the pebbles, while the great ocean 
of truth lies spread out before them;" and recog- 
nize the "Facts of the world as the words of God.". 

This view of the steps necessary in a course of 
study in the Empirical Sciences is strongly confirmed 
by the history of their progress. A careful student 
may mark this progress by several distinct stages 
of growth. 

First, the Poetic Stage. — The attention of unculti- 
vated men is first attracted to objects by some 
quality which pleases their fancy or arouses their 
feelings. The African savage may deck his person 
with gaud}' ostrich-feathers, the Arab may pitch his 
tent near some palm not only to enjoy protection 
from its shade but pleasure from its beauty, the 



THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 361 

Indians of our own country may linger on some 
mountain summit to gaze at the river which winds 
along far below them, the lake which nestles among 
the hills, or the glories of the setting sun; and in 
each, it is easy to see the awakening of that interest 
in nature which in more highly civilized conditions 
of society will lead to study and knowledge. The 
Mythologies of the East are largely indebted for 
what in them is beautiful to this poetic interest in 
nature which characterizes peoples who have not 
made much progress in scientific knowledge. The 
most enlightened nations have had their ages of 
Fable, in which they personified the objects and 
powers of nature, and filled caves, and groves, and 
air, and waters, with creations of their lively fancies. 
It is not very difficult to see that the mental condi- 
tion of men then was like that of children now. 

Second, the Mystic Stage. — Wondering at the 
marvels which nature was constantly forcing upon 
their attention, men could not long withstand the 
temptation of trying to account for them. They 
could not but see that certain consequents followed 
certain antecedents, and the inquiry would become 
very natural as to whether this was always the case. 
Curious, indeed, would be that history which re- 
counted the efibrts made by the human intellect to 
find causes for the facts it observed. It may easily 
be supposed that the first inquirers would hurry to 
their conclusions, and that these conclusions would 
generally be mere guesses, contradictory and mys- 
ticaL The ancient Hindoos, Persians, and Egyptians 
had their fanciful Cosmogonies ; the speculative 

31 



862 INSTEUCTION" IN EMPIEICAL SCIENCES. 

Greeks found the principle of the universe in water, 
air, fire, and they placed the Titan, Atlas, under the 
earth to upbear it on his shoulders ; and the Middle 
Age Mystics found a ready explanation for physical 
phenomena in supernatural causes. Both good and 
evil spirits play an important part in the affairs of 
men and the ongoings of nature, while nations are 
passing through the stage of progress now referred 
to. It is to be expected that children will now 
exhibit similar mental tendencies; but it is time 
that full grown men in enlightened countries should 
have passed beyond the stage of progress which we 
have called the Mystic. 

Third, the Ohservatmial Stage. — Dissatisfied with 
the small return of fruit resulting from purely ideal 
speculations, students of nature began slowly and 
patiently to accumulate facts. Different observers 
explore the whole field of the Empirical Sciences — 
they experiment at home and travel abroad, and the 
treasures of thousands of volumes attest their in- 
dustry. All feel that they have now struck the right 
path ; and the faithful teacher must follow^ in it. 

Fourth, the Clas^ificatory Stage.— Yacts accumu- 
late ; the memory is overburdened ; the reaping of 
the rich harvests seems threatened to be stopped 
for want of barns in which to store the products. 
The necessity of classification is felt, and efforts are 
soon made to arrange the abundant material into 
classes. External resemblances or adventitious cir- 
cumstances determine the first divisions into classes ; 
but soon more hidden relationships are observed, 



THE EMPIRICAL SCIE^^CES IX GENERAL. 363 

and, ill the light of these, better systems of classifi- 
cation are adopted and the great mass of material 
becomes moulded into manageable shape. 

Fifth, the Inductive Stage. — Classification of facts 
and phenomena could not well be made without 
starting inquiries as to the causes which govern 
them, and, when once the search for these began, 
natural curiosity would prompt its vigorous prose- 
cution. The fanciful guesses of the Mystic Stage 
of progress proceed from the same mental powers 
that give birth to the slow and careful generaliza- 
tions of the Inductive Stage ; but during the former, 
men leap to their conclusions without waiting to 
test them by an appeal to facts. The spirit of in- 
quiry since the time of Bacon has been inductive. 
Guided by this method, earnest investigators have 
searched the earth, the air, and the heavens, the 
vegetable and animal kingdoms ; and rich indeed 
has been their reward. Laws have been found, and 
superstitious influences have been discarded. JSTot 
only have busy hands revealed nature's curious 
hieroglyphics ; but many a Champollion has decy- 
phered them. The laws derived by induction may 
be very simple and applicable only to special cases, 
or they may be broad enough, like the law of gravi- 
tation, to comprehend the whole universe ; but all 
safe inferences must be founded upon systematically 
arranged facts. 

Sixth, the Demonstrative Stage. — Generalizations 
are often made in the Empirical Sciences long be- 
fore all the facts which are embraced by them have 



364 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

been ascertained. Indeed, it is not possible to bring 
all the facts embraced by a single generalization 
within the limits of human experience, for that ex- 
perience is finite and nature is infinite. But the 
laws of nature are uniform in their operations ; and 
we feel quite sure when we ascertain a law applica- 
ble to several of the members of a class, it is true 
of the whole class, or when the tendency of a cause 
is to produce a certain efiiect in one set of circum- 
stances its tendency will be to produce the same 
efifect under other circumstances. It follows that in- 
ductions may be made, and then used in the search for 
additional facts or in the interpretation of diflferent 
phenomena. "We may even anticipate the existence 
of unknown facts. By a kind of demonstration we 
can prove that newly discovered gases must be sub- 
ject to the law of chemical affinity, that the fossil 
plants or animals, just obtained from the strata of 
an unknown formation must exhibit the same plan 
of growth and structure as those to which we have 
been accustomed, or that the law of gravitation 
extends its influence to the remotest star just re- 
vealed by the powerful aid of modern Telescopes ; 
and the same method is applicable to all depart- 
ments of science. 

From its ver}^ nature it is clear that the Inductive 
Stage of an Empirical Science must have preceded 
the Demonstrative Stage, and the history of all 
such sciences, is full of confirmatory evidence. 
Even now the most able Physicists are laboring in 
this stage, and the fruit gathered seems to show 
that the harvest is but ripening. 



THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 365 

Seventh, the Philosophic Stage. — By our senses we 
observe facts, by means of the understanding we 
classify them and make inductions from them ; but 
these faculties can never give us the universal prin- 
ciples which condition both the facts and the induc- 
tions. The atoms of matter may unite in certain 
definite proportions, the various organs of plants 
may be metamorphosed leaves, bodies may attract 
one another according to certain fixed law^s; but 
there are reasons why all these things are so, and 
just so far as these reasons can be attained have we 
what may truly be called a Philosophy. He who 
observes the most facts and makes the broadest 
generalizations, will be best prepared to discern the 
eternal principles according to which the universe 
was made. Reaching a certain standpoint, these 
principles appear to the sincere investigator of na- 
ture, as the intuitions of the reason or as the per- 
ceptions of the quick eye of faith. 

Eighth, the Esthetic Stage. — Nature has beauties 
which lie upon the surface. They serve to attract 
attention. Nearly all persons, both young and old, 
derive enjoyment from them. Even the savage stops 
to gaze from some mountain summit upon the sleep- 
ing lake or the setting sun, and the little child claps 
its hands in delight when wandering about a garden 
of flowers or gazing at the richly-colored rainbow. 
But all this beauty bears little comparison to that 
which ravishes his soul who has gazed upon na- 
ture's teeming facts, who has constructed them 
into orderly systems, who has formed comprehen- 
sive generalizations, and who has at last caught 
31* • 



S66 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

glimpses of the eternal principles that are the 
archetypes after which things were made. It is a 
great mistake to suppose that those who are most 
icrnorant of nature's works exhibit the most admi- 
ration for them. Study, indeed, sometimes curbs 
the light play of fancy and banishes forever her 
airy creations ; but at the same time it reveals ten 
thousand real beauties of which the untutored poet 
never dreamed. All true art presupposes the highest 
conceptions of science ; and he alone can drink in 
the full measure of nature's beauties who is able to 
comprehend the divine plan in the creation. 

JN'inth, the Religious Stage. — In the earliest states 
of civilization, men must have felt that there is a 
powder above nature. The mind of the poor Indian 
"Sees God in clouds or hears him in the wind." 
Much of the ancient INIythology had its origin in 
the attempt to find God in some object of the visible 
creation or in some power that is manifested through 
it. Every event was regarded as a miracle. A 
darkened understanding prevented the Heathen 
world from discriminating between the Maker and 
the thing made. The most enlightened of these 
nations could do no more than erect an altar to the 
" Unknown God." Individual instances there were, 
of persons who seemed to apprehend a personal 
Deity, but they were such as had closely studied 
nature and themselves. All past history goes to 
show that those who have numbered the great 
variety of objects which nature contains, who have 
witnessed the working of her grand machinery, 
who have noticed the " foot-prints of the Creator" 



GEOGKAPHY. 367 

in nicely adjusting means to ends, who have marked 
the order that everywhere prevails and enjoyed the 
beauty that adorns the whole, and who have care- 
fully inspected the revelations of their own minds, 
possess, other things being equal, the most adequate 
ideas of the Great Being who created the heavens 
and the earth and all that in them is, and pro- 
nounced it very good. "The heavens declare the 
glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his 
handiwork." God has revealed himself in the 
Bible ; but he has also left his name labeled upon 
all his works and he who will may read it there, 
" For the invisible things of him from the creation 
of the world are clearly seen, being understood by 
the things that are made, even his eternal power 
and Godhead." The highest end of the study 
of nature is to find God in his works. The true 
philosopher finds Him, and his longing soul is 
satisfied. 

II. Geography. 

Geography treats generally of the aspects of na- 
ture and the works of man, and the causes which 
have produced or modified them. Its elementary 
facts as they relate to nature have the same basis 
as the Empirical sciences ; and its elementary facts 
as they relate to man have the same basis as the 
Historical Sciences; but, in its higher departments, 
it may present the broadest generalizations of both. 
The difference between it and any special JS'atural 
or Political Science is that its object-matter com- 
prehends a much greater variety of facts and prin- 
ciples. Geography is not so much a science in 



% 
868 INSTEUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

itself as it is a collection of matter belonging to a 
number of sciences. 

The word Geography means a description of the 
earth ; and a description of the earth is understood 
to include the changes man has wrought upon it. 
This meaning defines sufficiently well the Geogra- 
phical matter that appears in many of our text- 
books on the subject; but Geography must now 
be considered not merely as a narrative of facts but 
as a system of principles controlling the facts. 

Geography is easily divisible into two kinds ; 
that which relates to Nature; and that which 
relates to Man. The first is called Physical Ge- 
ography; and the second, Political Geography. 
The terms Mathematical, Historical, Descriptive, 
Local, &c., as applied to Geography do not repre- 
sent distinct divisions of the subject. If we follow 
the order of cause and effect, w^e must first speak 
of Physical Geography, and afterward of Political 
Geography ; but the teacher will find that he can 
best illustrate the subject and do more to create an 
interest in it on the part of his class, if he combine 
the two, and teach both together. Causes and 
their effects will thus be brought before the mind 
at one view and their relationship can be more 
readily shown. If this were otherwise, no neces- 
sity would arise for a corresponding division here, 
inasmuch as the same pedagogical principles apply 
to the one as to the other. 

Many of our text-books on Geography adopt a 
very imperfect method of presenting the subject. 
They generally commence with some pages of defi- 
nitions concerning the planetary relations of the 



GEOGRAPHY. 869 

earth, the general divisions of land and water, lati- 
tude and longitude, zones, government, races of 
men, stages of civilization, kinds of religion, changes 
of seasons, &c. ; all of which it is impossible for a 
child to understand. Such lessons as these with 
others upon maps which are to the learner " a mere 
set of marks, without any equivalent conception in 
the mind of the thing represented," make the whole 
work a dull, dragging process ; or, at the best, can 
only crowd the memory with forms of words, and 
images of dots, and lines, and ridges, which have 
little meaning. By and by, it is true, a healthy 
mental organization asserts its right to acquire 
knowledge in a rational way, and Geography may 
then be learned, not in accordance with this method, 
but in spite of it. 

In teaching Geography, as in teaching all other 
studies, the teacher must first ascertain what know- 
ledge his pupils already possess concerning the sub- 
ject, and then make them familiar in a natural way 
with such new matter as may be most closely con- 
nected with it. The mind makes progress in know- 
ledge only by the process of assimilating .the un- 
known to the known. A child will have attained 
by the time he is eight years of age, a knowledge 
of many Geographical facts relating to the neigh- 
borhood about his home or his school. He will 
have seen water bubbling up from the earth in' 
springs, and running away in rivulets ; he will have 
walked up hills, and wandered about valleys ; he 
will have noticed villages, and may have visited the 
market-town, the mill, shops, and manufactories — 
watched cars move on a railroad, or ships sail on a 



370 INSTKUCTION IN EMPIKICAL SCIENCES. 

river; he will have become familiar with many 
plants, animals, reptiles, and insects; and with the 
general appearance of rain, hail, snow, ice, and 
frost ; and possibly may have learned the names of 
some of the rocks and soils. This and other know- 
ledge like this is what the pupil knows when he 
begins the study of Geography, and nothing can be 
more evident than that his instruction must start 
at this point. 

If the proper place of beghming has now been 
found, it remains our task to arrange the object- 
matter of Geography, and exhibit the proper 
methods of making pupils acquainted with it. I 
know no better way of doing this than by present- 
mcr a classified series of lessons. These lessons are 
intended to follow a natural order of progression, 
and to include all the essential parts of the science 
of Geography. Each class of lessons may embrace 
matter sufficient for manj^ individual lessons. 

First Class of Lessons. — On Objects relating to 
Geography/, which Pujnls can observe for themselves. — 
The lessons to be given here are designed to extend 
the knowledge already in possession of the pupils 
by a method but little different from that by which 
it was acquired. I^ature is the only text-book 
needed. Lessons may be given about the general 
aspects of a neighborhood — its hills, valleys, water- 
courses, forests ; and, if, perchance, the school-house 
is located near a mountain, lake, river, or the ocean's 
shore, these objects will be an unfailing source of 
interest. The attention of pupils may be directed 
to the different kinds of land — farm-land, wood- 



GEOGRAPHY. 371 

land, meadow-land, level, hilly, and rolling land; 
to the different objects composed of water — springs, 
brooks, creeks, ponds, dams ; to the different kinds 
of soils — clay, sand, gravel, vegetable mould; to the 
different kinds of stone — quartz, sandstone, granite, 
slate, limestone, iron-ore ; to the different kinds of 
trees — pine, oak, hickory, chestnut, poplar, ash ; to 
the different kinds of productions of the neighbor- 
hood — corn, potatoes, rice, cotton, wheat, grass; 
to garden flowers and wild flowers; to domestic 
animals and wild animals ; to reptiles and insects ; 
to rain, snow, dew ; to the changes of the seasons ; 
to villages and towns ; to the employments of the 
people; to shops, mills, manufactories, stores, school- 
houses, and churches. 

It is the design of this enumeration of particulars 
to indicate to the teacher the sources from which 
he may obtain the materials for his first class of 
lessons in Geography. His own ingenuity must 
suggest which subject of those mentioned, or of 
other like subjects not mentioned, is most appro- 
priate for any particular lesson. In giving this 
kind of instruction to young pupils, no strictly 
scientific discussion is expected or desirable. They 
should be taught those things in which ihej can be 
made to feel an interest ; and this interest can be 
greatly increased by placing, the object of the lesson 
before them in the school-house, or them before the 
object out of the school-house. Minerals, flowers, 
shells, fossils, &c., may be brought into the school- 
house ; and the teacher and pupils may visit 
woods, meadows, mines, quarries, gardens, ruins, 
&c. . These lessons, indeed, are Geographical Object 



372 INSTEUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

Lessons, and thej should be given in the same mode 
and with the same spirit as other Object Lessons. 

Second Class or Lessons. — On similar Objects 
which can be found only in Localities distant from the 
School. — Lessons on objects which they can see 
would prepare children to receive lessons on similar 
objects which they cannot see. In imparting such 
lessons, the teacher must rely upon comparisons 
made wih things known, descriptions, and pictorial 
illustrations. The names of the countries in which 
the objects are found may be given; but the time 
has not come for formal instruction in regard to the 
relative positions of countries as exhibited upon 
maps. 

Suppose the school-house in which these lessons 
are given is in Pennsylvania ; then, the teacher may 
describe the natural features of countries unlike 
Pennsylvania — deserts, prairies, countries very cold 
or very warm, mountains covered with snow, hot 
springs, volcanos, &c. ; such animals as the lion, 
ostrich, elephant, reindeer, camel, whale, &c. ; such 
vegetable productions as the coffee-plant, the tea- 
plant, rice, bread-fruit, cotton-plant, banian-tree, 
palm, &c. ; such people as the Esquimaux with their 
dogs and their houses of snow ; the Chinese with 
their strange peculiarities of food, dress, and mode 
of life ; the Arabs with their tents and horses ; the 
Turks with their long beards and their clumsy 
clothing; the Hottentot in his hut, the Indian in 
his wigwam, the European lord in his stately castle. 
If given in simple language children will eagerly 
read accounts of travels and voyages, descri2:)tions 



GEOGRAPHY. 873 

of countries and their inhabitants, and biographical 
sketches of distinguished men. Let a teacher tell 
his pupils of the Israelites crossing the Eed Sea, 
Columbus' on his way to America, Bonaparte at St. 
Helena ; and if he does not interest them he will 
accomplish less than others have done. 

Admit that in all these lessons much of the know- 
ledge imparted cannot assume a definite shape in 
the mind of the child, admit that some of his im- 
pressions will be erroneous, and it is no valid objec- 
tion against this mode of teaching; because children 
learn nothing in any other way. On the contrary, 
such teaching will impart many valuable ideas to 
children which they could obtain in no other manner 
so agreeable to them, and, what is of more conse- 
quence, it awakens a desire for knowledge and a 
taste for study which will render comparatively easy 
the task of learning formal Geography. 

Pictures of the objects upon which the lessons 
are given are a valuable aid ; and a Magic Lantern 
or a Stereoscope could be used to great advantage. 

Third Class of Lessons. — On the Topography of 
the neighborhood about the School — The two preceding 
classes of lessons, while they are intended to relate 
to Geographical subjects, are introductory in their 
character. It is proposed now to place the objects 
more definitely before the mind of the pupil by 
localizing the most important Geographical facts 
and introducing more system into the study of 
them. For this purpose the pupil must have com- 
municated to him correct ideas of a map, and this 
cannot be very well done unless he is acquainted 

82 



374 INSTHUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

with the points of the compass. In this latitude, 
the direction of the sun at rising and setting marks 
with sufficient accuracy the points East and West; 
the direction of the sun at noon and of 4he north 
polar-star, or of a magnetic needle, indicates correctly 
the points South and E"orth. A teacher can readily 
draw on the floor with a piece of chalk a line run- 
ning east and west ; another crossing it at right 
angles will run north and south. The respective 
ends of these lines can be marked with the letters 
E, W, N, S ; and pupils will soon learn to name 
any point of the compass thus represented, or when 
drawn upon a blackboard. The class can stand up 
and point toward where the sun rises, toward where 
it sets, in what direction the sun is at noon, and in 
what direction the north polar-star is, if the teacher 
has previously taken the trouble to show them. 
Some questions should then be asked in reference to 
the direction from the school-house of certain promi- 
nent objects in the neighborhood. This done, the 
design and construction of maps must be explained. 
Maps are intended to represent the earth's sur- 
face ; but the various means made use of for this 
purpose, require considerable power of imagination 
to make them significant. The teacher must make 
his pupils, realize the meaning of the marks, dots, 
and lines that are used in map-drawing. To begin, 
let the teacher draw, in the presence of his class, 
upon a slate or a blackboard laid horizontally^ a plan 
of the school-house. He may make a line of a given 
length, and let it represent one end of the school- 
house, and then he may inquire of the pupils as to 
the length and direction of the other lines and the 



GEOGRAPHY. 375 

location of objects in tlie room. After this, the slate 
or blackboard may be raised to a perpendicular posi- 
tion, and the pupils required to imitate the plan 
drawn. 

This lesson may be succeeded by a similar one 
upon the school-grounds. Different scales may be 
adopted in representing them, in order to guard 
pupils against the error sometimes fallen into by 
them of supposing that the size of a map must be 
proportioned to the size of the portion of surface it 
represents. Questions may be asked in reference to 
boundaries, and the relative position of the objects 
indicated upon the map. 

Then may be drawn other maps representing the 
neighboring fields; the adjoining wood; the roads to 
the mill, store, smith-shop, factory ; the town or the 
village ; brooks, creeks, ponds. 

Imaginary school-grounds may be drawn, orna- 
mented with walks, shade trees, shrubbery, and 
beds of flowers ; imaginary roads crossed by streams 
of water, bordered by fields and woodlands, and 
along which are located farm-houses, shops, stores, 
hotels, school-houses, and churches ; imaginary 
streams spanned by bridges, and whereon are situ- 
ated saw-mills, flouring-mills, factories, forges, and 
towns ; imaginary farms divided into fields with 
wheat, cotton, corn, potatoes, &c., growing in them, 
with streams of water passing through them, and 
cattle grazing on the hills or in the meadows ; im- 
aginary plans of towns and cities with streets, gar- 
dens, public squares, and levees. 

Such lessons as tliese, if accompanied with proper 
instruction, will prove very much more useful and 



376 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIEICAL SCIENCES. 

interesting to children than committing to memory 
the little rivers of Turkey or the insignificant towns 
of Japan. 

Fourth Class of Lessons. — On the Explanation of 
Common Geographical Terms. — The preceding classes 
of lessons will prepare learners for entering upon 
the more formal study of Geography. But as clear- 
ness of thought very much depends upon clearness 
of language, some more definite ideas must be im- 
parted concerning certain Geographical terms. A 
few examples will suffice to indicate the method of 
doing this. 

Let the term be River. All pupils have seen 
rivulets, and they can easily undej-stand that where 
several rivulets are conjoined a larger stream of 
water is produced. A number of these larger 
streams meet and form a creek, and a number of 
creeks joining their waters make a river. A river 
is, therefore, " a large stream of water." The repre- 
sentation of a river with, its various branches can 
be drawn upon blackboard or exhibited upon Charts. 

Let the term be Isthmus. A pupil can scarcely 
be found who has not seen at least a small piece 
of ground surrounded by water. He has noticed 
this in a creek, a mill-dam, or, if no where else, 
in a pond by the road-side. Two islands may be 
connected by a narrow strip of land, and this is 
called an isthmus. An isthmus can be represented 
as in the case of a river. 

In like manner, passing from the known to the 
unknown, a pond can be expanded into a lake ; a 
hill into a mountain ; a piece of low land filled with 



GEOGRAPHY. 87T 

water from a creek when flooded, into a gulf or bay; 
a township into a continent ; a village into a city. 
Indeed, all that pupils really learn must be acquired 
in this way. A mere abstract definition cannot 
possibly be of any benefit to them. In order to 
ascertain whether pupils have formed a correct idea 
of such objects, they may be required to point out 
the pictures of them on Charts, and to draw either 
real or imaginary ones on the blackboard. Sets of 
Geographical models designed for imitation, and 
representing rivers, islands, straits, bays, lakes, 
mountains, &c., might be advantageously used. For 
this purpose, a distinguished English Educator re- 
commends an article of apparatus w^hich he calls a 
^'Geographical box." It is made of wood, carved 
to represent a continent wdth its seas, bays, islands, 
lakes, &c. Mountains, table lands, banks of rivers, 
&c., are made with putty, and the whole painted in 
the natural colors of the objects represented. This 
model is made to fit in a box somewhat larger in 
size, and which when used is partly filled wdth water. 
Inside, the box is painted a bluish green, to imitate 
the color of the sea. The model must be so adjusted 
in weight that when placed in the water contained 
in the box, it will allow the water to pass about it 
in such a manner as to represent peninsulas, isth- 
muses, straits, bays, harbors, rivers, lakes, &c. 

Pupils may be told that the earth about which 
they are going to study is round, and that it re- 
volves upon its axis once in a day and passes around 
the sun once in a year. These facts must be illus- 
trated by means of a globe or a Tellurian, may be 
made to seem probable from the ready explanation 

32* 



878 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

tliey furnish of certain phenomena with which even 
children are acquainted ; but at the stage of pro- 
gress indicated by the class of lessons now under- 
going discussion, it would be folly to attempt to 
demonstrate them. Such facts may be received 
upon testimony, until children are able to under- 
stand the grounds upon which they are based. 

It might be proper also at this stage of their pro- 
gress to make children acquainted with the various 
lines which are employed to determine the relative 
positions of places upon the earth's surface. The 
most important of these are the equator, the paral- 
lels, and meridians. Some knowledge of the tro- 
pics, the polar circles, the poles, &c., may be im- 
parted at the same time. Such instruction can be 
best given by means of a globe, although in the 
absence of one, some round object or the blackboard 
can be substituted. The teacher can point to the 
line which is drawn around the globe, show that 
this line divides it into two parts, and give these 
parts their proper names — hemispheres. Pupils will 
readily understand that it is easier to find a place 
in one of the hemispheres than it is to find one upon 
the whole globe. Other lines parallel to the equator 
may be pointed out or drawn, their names stated, 
and their purpose shown. Meridians can be exhi- 
bited and their use explained in the same way. 
Pupils should then draw maps of the hemispheres 
upon the blackboard representing the parallels and 
meridians, and numbering them; after which the 
teacher may engage them in determining the lati- 
tude and longitude of such places as he may think 
it proper to name. This done, a few minutes will 



GEOaEAPHY. 379 

suffice to make pupils understand what is meant by 
tropics, polar circles, and poles. Whatever con- 
cerning these things children cannot comprehend 
by such instruction must be left until* their minds 
are more mature. 

Fifth Class of Lessoxs. — On Detailed Creography. 
— Having been instructed in the lessons previously 
described, pupils are prepared to commence the 
study of the details of Geography. For this pur- 
pose each country in turn must be brought under 
consideration ; and the best order to be followed is 
to consider the school-house the central starting- 
point, and gradually advance further and further 
away from it, until the whole world is compre- 
hended in the survey. 

From the summit of a hill or the top of a house, 
the neighborhood of the school can be seen, its 
aspects and objects can be marked, and maps of it 
can be drawn. Pupils thus introduced to the sub- 
ject could not fail to notice that the roads, rivulets, 
and hills gradually disappear from sight; and to 
realize that there was "more beyond." Then the 
teacher can gratify their curiosity by presenting be- 
fore them a map of the town or township. If such 
a map cannot be purchased, the teacher can draw 
one for himself. In addition to the most important 
physical features, a map of this kind ought to have 
represented upon it, the public roads, the towns 
and villages, mills, manufactories, churches, post- 
offices, school-houses, and even some of the farm- 
houses. Exercises upon maps like this and in draw- 
ing similar ones can scarcely fail to interest pupils. 



880 INSTEUCTIOX IN- EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

E"ext to the Geography of the town or township, 
the Geography of the county or district in which 
the school is located should be considered; then, 
that of the state, the country, and in succession the 
other countries of the world. Foreign countries 
need not be described so minutely as countries 
nearer home, nor those with which we have little 
intercourse as those with which we have much. 
Great teaching skill will be required to know what 
to include in these lessons and what to omit. In 
doing it, the teacher must be guided by the circum- 
stances of his class, and no theorizing can supply 
that nice sense by which the true teacher adapts the 
mental food of his pupils to their mental appetites. 

In leavins: the neio-hborhood of the school where 

CD O 

the pupil can use his own senses, reliance for com- 
municating Geographical knowledge must be had 
upon maps and descriptions. The inquiry is im- 
portant as to the form in which these are most 
effective. 

With all the art of the most skilful Engraving, 
to crowd upon a flat surface of a few inches 
square, anything that will bear a close resemblance 
to the objects which are spread out upon a portion 
of the earth's surface hundreds or thousands of 
miles in extent is impossible. Maps with parts of 
their surfaces raised to represent the elevations of 
land, and profile maps may be better calculated to 
make correct impressions upon a learner's mind ; 
but after all much must be left to the imagination 
to supply, and the teacher w^ill do well to have his 
pupils frequently compare what they have not seen 
with what they have seen. Maps, however, must 



GEOGEAPHY. 881 

be carefully studied. Outline maps are very useful 
iu teaching Geography. They train the pupil to 
remember by location and form. Having prepared 
lessons by means of common Atlases, pupils can 
have their knowledge tested upon Outline maps. 
The teacher can point out localities and the pupils 
name them, the teacher can name them and the 
pupils point them out, or some pupils can name 
them while others point them out. In reciting 
with Outline maps, chants are sometimes used ; but 
while many names of towns, rivers, mountains, &c., 
can be quickly and pleasantly communicated in 
that manner, they are apt to be soon forgotten 
unless fixed in the mind by some interesting asso- 
ciation. 

Map-drawing may immediately follow the lessons 
on the maps, and it will be a test by which the 
teacher can always know how faithfully the work 
of preparation has been performed. Pupils will look 
much more closely at their Atlases, and perform with 
much more care their exercises upon the Outline 
maps, if they know that they will be immediately 
called upon to reproduce in the form of a map, what 
they have learned. The teacher should require his 
pupils to draw maps of every country the Geography 
of which they study. Beginners may copy their 
maps, but more advanced pupils should always draw 
from memory ; or classes may be allowed to copy 
out of class, and be required to draw from memory 
in class. Maps thus drawn may present merely the 
outlines of countries, the outlines with a few of the 
principal localities, or they may give the full details 
that the best engraved maps contain. They may 



382 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

be rough, extemporized sketches on the blackboard, 
or they may be carefully prepared, and finely finished 
specimens of map-drawing. A teacher who gives 
instruction in map-drawing ought to be able to show 
how coasts, rivers, mountains, &c., should be drawn, 
and also to present rules for marking parallels, 
meridians, &c. Such instruction may be facilitated 
by the use of map-drawing cards, or blank, black 
globes suitable for drawing upon. 

But all this map-drawing and this study of Atlases, 
and Outline maps, and globes, will be comparatively 
dull and profitless unless the teacher know how to 
enliven the lessons with interesting descriptions, 
narratives, incidents, and stories. Pleasant associa- 
tions must be made to cluster about all the dry 
details of Geography. The earth must not be con- 
sidered merely as a skeleton. It must be vivified 
with life. Its plants and animals must make revela- 
tions, and voices must come forth from mountains 
and valleys, from oceans and seas, from lakes and 
rivers, from great caves and mighty cataracts, mak- 
ing known their uses and revealing their beauty. It 
must be considered as the theatre upon whose stage 
the great drama of human life is being played. Scene 
has followed Scene for the past six thousand years, 
now a Tragedy, and now a Comedy, and still the play 
goes on. Mark yon uprolled curtain, teacher, and 
let your eager children view the wondrous spectacle. 
When thus taught, Geography is a very attractive 
study for the young. Here the teacher can pour 
out in rich profusion the stores of his knowledge 
gleaned from History, Biography, Voyages and 
Travels, and the explorations of scientific men, and 



GEOGEAPHY. 883 

he will be listened to with intense interest. Start- 
ing with the pupil's own village or township, the 
teacher can find an old church, a mound, a battle- 
field, the birth-place of some noted individual, a 
romantic pile of rocks, a beautiful glen, a bed of 
strange fossils, some mysterious legend, remarkable 
event, or curious incident, that will throw a charm 
about the formal dottings and tracings of the Atlas 
and the cold statistics of the text-book, that wins 
them a place in the pupil's mind and heart forever. 
The teacher of Geography has a wide field from 
which to gather his materials. He is at liberty to 
cull the choicest fiicts, the noblest truths, the richest 
beauties from all arts and all sciences, to furnish the 
intellectual banquets he provides for his pupils. 
No country is so poor that it cannot present some- 
thing worthy of interest. Every state in this Union 
has much that if skilfully woven into the recitation 
would make its Geography one of the most attrac- 
tive of studies. We have our ^N'atural Bridges, our 
Mammoth Caves, our Magara Cataracts ; our noble 
rivers, our beautiful lakes, our picturesque moun- 
tains, our broad fiower-decked prairies ; we have 
Jamestown's ruins, Plymouth Rock, Independence 
Hall, Bunker Hill, Stony Point, Brandywine, Mount 
Vernon, Ashland, Marshfield, Shiloh, Gettysburg, 
and Missionary Ridge, and these, and such as these, 
have about them clustering rich beauties or hallowed 
memories. The teacher travels with his pupils in 
imagination. He should make their travelling seem 
real to them, by forming skilful combinations of the 
physical and political characteristics of countries 
and painting them in words or exhibiting them in 



384 INSTKUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

pictures. Let a teacher take his class across the 
ocean, describing ocean life by the way; let him 
visit with them, Scotland, England, France, Switzer- 
land, Germany, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Pales- 
tine, India, China, and other countries of the East ; 
and he will find that every step of the journey may 
be made full of the most absorbing interest. If the 
teacher speak only of those things which would 
attract the attention of the class if actually travel- 
ling, and others necessary to make them understood, 
he will have a delightful journey, and his pupils will 
return from it wiser and better. The teacher might 
be aided in this work by the use of a Stereoscope, a 
Magic Lantern, or a series of pictures which would 
exemplify the Geography of distant countries. "With 
such aids the teacher might almost make his pupils 
think they were gazing upon the beautiful scenery, 
the rich cities, the gorgeous palaces, the ruined 
castles, the ivy-covered abbeys of the old world ; or 
standing upon spots associated with the names of 
great men or noble deeds. He might almost make 
them conceive themselves as travelling in the snows 
of Lapland, riding in the gondolas at Venice, or 
marching upon the back of a rough camel across the 
desert with the slow-moving caravan — as rambling 
among the ruins of Rome, rebuilding in imagination 
from scattered fragments, great temples in Athens, 
climbing the Pyramids, or tracing the footsteps of the 
Man of Sorrows about the Holy City — as introduced 
among the wild Arabs in their tents, the grave 
Turks on their cushions or at their mosques, the 
superstitious Hindoos when performing their feats 
of jugglery, undergoing their penances, or carrying 



GEOGRAPHY. 885 

on their learned disputations, the self-conceited 
Chinese where they traffic in their shops or on their 
boats, where they dress their gardens or cultivate 
their tea, or where they crowd their temples or 
meditate in their schools of philosophy. 

The design of all this is to exhibit the spirit with 
which Geography should be taught. The teacher 
must of course adapt his instruction to the age of 
the pupils and the circumstances of the class. 

Sixth Class of Lessons. — On the Classification of 
Geographical Facts. — To primary classes learning 
Geography there can only be imparted with much 
hope of success a knowledge of individual facts. 
Such facts must be chosen as will interest them, and 
their tenacious memories will not suffer them to be 
forgotten. As soon, however, as pupils enter upon 
the study of the minuter details of Geography, the 
teacher must aid their powers of recollection by a 
carefully arranged outline of classification. In the 
study of the detailed Geography of a particular 
country, it is not best to consider the facts to be 
learned in any order in which they may chance to 
present themselves, but they should be grouped 
together in classes. With such an outline of classi- 
fication before him, the pupil could collect his 
matter and recite it, much more perfectly than it 
would be possible for him to do otherwise. He 
would also be likelj^ to retain it longer in his 
memory. Many of our Geographical text-books are 
defective in their classifications. The following dis- 
tribution of the object-matter of Geography will be 
found to answer the end now contemplated : 

33 



386 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

1. Boundaries. 

2. Extent and divisions. 

. 3. General character of the surface. 
4. Internal waters. 
6. [N'ature of the soil and climate. 

6. Productions. 

7. Cities and towns. 

8. Facilities for internal communication. 

9. The inhabitants. 

10. Government, religion, sciences and art, edu- 
cation. 

11. Miscellaneous facts. 

At recitation, each pupil should be expected to 
reproduce the information he has collected respect- 
ing a particular country, and arranged under these 
respective classes. He need not be confined to the 
text-book in making preparation. 

But the preceding classification is not broad 
enough to satisfy a teacher in the higher depart- 
ments of Geography. The same principle should 
l)e so extended as to embrace the various Geographi- 
cal facts relating to all countries. Mountains, rivers, 
islands, lakes, rocks, soils, climates, currents, winds, 
animals, plants, and men admit of classification. 
Indeed, it is impossible to study them thoroughly 
without it. If studied only as they appear in par- 
ticular countries, the information gained will be 
comparatively of little value. Besides, the best 
way for advanced pupils to study the extent of coun- 
tries, the population of cities, the length of rivers, 
kinds of religion, stages of civilization, and forms 
of government, is by comparison and classification. 



GEOGRAPHY. 387 

For beginners in Geography, the particular should 
always precede the general ; but for advanced pupils 
the general may precede the particular, for they will 
possess sufficient knowledge to appreciate principles, 
and principles will guide them in further study. 

It will be uiMierstood from what has been said 
that teachers of Geography ought not to be satisfied 
with a mere accumulation of disconnected facts, but 
they should lead their pupils to combine them into 
well-arranged classes and systems. 

Seventh Class or Lessons. — On the General Laws 
which govern G-eographical Facts.- — Having found the 
facts of Geography and classed them, learners must 
be set upon the search for their causes. The form 
of the earth must be demonstrated, and its motions 
must be explained. The causes must be investigated 
that have tended to shape the continental masses, 
heaved up mountains, formed islands, scooped out 
valleys, graded plains, covered deserts with sand, 
and varied the nature of soils ; that drive forward 
the ocean currents, swell the tides, determine the 
courses and cut out the beds of rivers, fill the lakes 
with water and keep them fresh or make them salt; 
that temper the weather, move the winds, distribute 
the rain, bring hail, snow, and dew, and build up 
and float away great bergs of ice ; that adapt plants 
and animals to the countries in which they are 
found, and even modify the races of men ; that con- 
trol the employments of the people, inducing those 
of some nations to engage in manufacturings some 
in farming, some in mining, and others in com- 
merce, fix the boundaries of states, foment wars 



388 IN"STRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 

and keep peace, point out the locations for the 
founding of cities, the building of raih'oads, and 
the construction of bridges, and exert an influence 
upon government, the manners and customs of the 
people, science, art, education, and religion. This 
is a most inviting field ; and the thoughtful teacher 
may find in it reasons so simple that a child may 
understand them, and principles so complicated 
that none but a mind like that of Humboldt could 
evolve them. 

In teaching pupils to make inductions, they must 
be brought to compare the known with the unknown, 
by means of explanations, illustrations, and experi- 
ments. Finding out the reasons of things generally 
furnishes so much pleasure to learners, that the 
most the teacher will have to do is to provide a 
fij: opportunity for the exercise of their reasoning 
powers, and they will gladly use them — and use 
them to some purpose. A text-book may state 
general principles and present a sufficient number 
of facts to prove them ; but the pupil should be 
required to make an application of these principles 
in explaining new phenomena and solving new 
problems. 



CHAPTER y. 

INSTRUCTION IN THE RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

Those who understand the sciences of which we 
have thus far treated can scarcely have failed to 
observe that they start out by taking something for 
granted, that they make no attempt to account for 
the ultimate premises upon which they base their 
conclusions. 

The sciences relating to Language treat of the 
elements of speech and their relations ; but every 
principle of these sciences may be traced back to 
laws of thought, and these again rest upon certain 
intuitions of the Reason. 

The Formal Sciences confessedly erect their 
superstructure upon a foundation of definitions and 
axioms, the nature of which they do not pretend to 
investigate. Mathematicians merely state the defi- 
nitions and axioms which relate to Mathematics ; 
Logicians often enlarge somewhat upon those which 
relate to Logic, but merely as an introduction to 
the subject proper. Logic treats of the laws of 
thought, the treatment of the elements of thought 
belongs elsewhere. 

The Empirical Sciences rest also upon a basis of 
definitions and axioms. ^N'ot a sins^le observation 
can be made, class formed, or inference drawn with- 
out the aid of principles which no Liductive Philo- 

33* (389) 



390 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

sophy can account for. By tliemselves tliey begin 
in assumption and end in assumption. 

By means of the Understanding we can correct 
concepts, compare facts, form syllogisms, and apply 
ascertained principles, and this constitutes, apart 
from the collection of materials, the whole work the 
mind has to do in acquainting itself with a Language, 
a Formal or an Empirical Science. The products 
of the Reason are, of course, used, but they are 
assumed. 

It is evident, therefore, that back of all the sci- 
ences referred to, there must be another class of 
sciences, whose province it is to treat of what is 
elsewhere taken for granted. We have ideas of 
space, time, cause, truth, beauty, right, &c. ; but 
what is the nature of these ideas ? and whence do 
they come ? We deal with axioms ; but what is an 
axiom ? By what tests can axioms be distinguished ? 
Upon what rests their claim to universal acceptance 
as truth? The sciences that embrace this object- 
matter must interpenetrate with their ideas and 
regulate with their forms all other sciences, must 
be the germs out of which they grow, the roots by 
which they are supported and nourished, the light 
in which they can be understood. The sciences 
whose object-matter may be thus characterized, have 
been called the Metaphysical Sciences, and, pro- 
perly, since they are over or above Physics ; but a 
better name, perhaps, is the Rational Sciences^ since 
they are evolved directly from the Reason. 

The Reason is that faculty of the mind by which 
it knows itself to be the source of necessary and 
universal principles. Out of such principles all the 



INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 891 

sciences grow, and by them life should be guided. 
By means of the Reason we rise above a servile 
dependence upon material things, and, believing, 
lay hold on things unseen. 

In searching the whole field open to his investiga- 
tion, the most diligent student can predicate nothing 
in respect to what he finds that may not be arranged 
in one of the three following classes: Truth, 
Beauty, and Goodness. 

The human mind has three great classes of 
Powers, viz. : the Intellect, the Feelings, and the 
Will. The activities of each class in their objective 
relations are subject to a distinct body of laws. 
The products of the right operation of the Intellect 
may be called Truth, the products of the right ope- 
ration of the Feelings may be called Beauty, and 
the products of the right operation of the Will may 
be called G-oodness. 

The Reason reigns over the mind. All the 
mental powers operate subject to its control. Each 
looks to the Reason for an end to aim at, and a light 
to guide its efibrt. The Intellect knows nothing of 
truth ; the Feelings of Beauty ; the Will of good- 
ness, unless the Reason furnishes criteria by which 
to judge them. These criteria are evolved from the 
Primitive Ideas of the True, the Beautiful, and 
the Good; and based upon these ideas and out- 
working from them, we have the Rational Sciences, 
called respectively Philosophy, Esthetics, and 
Ethics. The idea of God — an idea which unites 
all perfection in one Being, gives us Theology, but 
no discussion of this science will be indulged in 
here. Leibnitz, followed by others, has arranged 



892 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

the Eational Sciences into three classes, viz. ; Ra- 
tional Physics, or the science which treats of the 
"World ; Rational Psychology, or the science which 
treats of the Soul ; and Rational Theology, or the 
science which treats of God. This classification is 
exhaustive, but not so well suited to the present 
purpose as that above named. 

Among the ideas relating to the True are those 
of space, time, substance, cause, infinity, &c. ; among 
those relating to the Beautiful are order, proportion, 
harmony, grace, perfection, &c. ; and among those 
relating to the Good are right, duty, liberty, virtue, 
holiness, &c. 

A few remarks are in place here as to the ori- 
gin and nature of these ideas. It has already been 
shown that they cannot be derived from experience, 
but they are always formed upon the occasion of some 
experience. We notice something that is true, 
beautiful, or good, and immediately there uprises 
in the mind that ideal standard by which all that 
is true, beautiful, and good may be measured. Let 
experience be extended, be made as extensive as 
possible, still the ideal will outspan it. If in thought 
we can transcend all possible experience, can we in 
thought know the Absolute and the Infinite? To 
me it seems clear that our knowledge of the Abso- 
lute and Infinite must be confined to the fact that 
they exist ; but of this fact we can be as certain as 
of any other. We cannot resist the conviction that 
there is nobjer truth, richer beauty, greater good 
than any we can possibly conceive of; and rising 
in degrees it is impossible not to think that some- 
where there must be the absolutely and infinitely 



INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 893 

Perfect. Besides, as there is the Relative there must 
be the Absolute ; as there is the Finite there must 
be the Infinite ; as earthly truth, beauty, and good- 
ness centre in the human Reason — in man, so the 
True, the Beautiful, and the Good, unconditioned 
in their perfection, centre in the Divine Reason — 
in God. The right conception of the human Reason 
leads necessarily to a conception of the Divine Rea- 
son, and to a Divine Personality in which it is 
enthroned. 

"We are just as sure of the existence of the Infi- 
nite as of the Finite; of the Absolute as of the 
Relative ; of the True, the Beautiful, and the Good, 
as of truth, beauty, and goodness ; of God as of 
man. What if into the pure regions where angels 
dwell the human mind is only permitted to look — 
that look reveals plainly enough the thing looked 
for, is a firm ground of faith, and furnishes a suffi- 
cient foretaste of the ineffable delight with which 
in the Better Land we shall behold its glories face 
to face. 

Some great thinkers have denied that the human 
mind can attain to any knowledge of the Uncon- 
ditioned, but at the same time have admitted that 
w^e believe in the existence of the Absolute and the 
Infinite, or of a Being absolute and infinite. That 
we may believe in the existence of a thing of which 
we have no adequate conception is clear for we do 
it constantly ; but it seems to me that w^e never 
believe a thing without having some ground for the 
belief — an idea out of which it springs. With Dr. 
McCosh I hold " That when there is no positive 
conception, then faith ought to cease, and must 



894 INSTKUCTIOIS' IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

cease." But God has not left mankind without a 
witness of Himself, without a light to guide those 
who will heed it, to Heaven. Through the spiritual 
eye, the Reason sanctified, the heart made pure, 
man can see enough of Heavenly things to make 
positive the evidence upon which he rests his faith 
in God and immortality. 

Since the Rational Sciences are so far removed 
from what business men call practical, and since in 
this country there is so much prejudice against 
Metaphysical studies, it seems necessary to set forth 
the value which may be derived from the pursuit 
of such studies. 

1. The Value of the Rational Sciences in Themselves. — 
To the unthinking, the value of the Rational sciences 
in themselves does not seem great. They can easily 
understand that Grammar is useful as it aids in 
speaking and writing, that Mathematics is useful 
in keeping accounts, that Chemistry may be useful 
in analyzing soils and selecting good fertilizers to 
enrich them ; but the utility of truth so abstract 
as that of the- Rational Sciences is not likely to be 
appreciated by those whose blind judgment esti- 
mates the worth of knowledge by the amount of 
money it will make. The age is intensely practical. 
Men are measured by the amount of work they 
can do. He who makes a great speech, wins a 
great battle, or heads a successful expedition receives 
the honors which he merits ; but he who nobly 
devotes himself to the study of truth for its own 
sake is called a dreamer, a theorist, a transcenden- 



INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 395 

talist, and is rather pitied tliaa applauded. This 
condition of things may be excused on the ground 
that our country is new, and that in consequence 
great iictivity is manifested in all that relates to the 
external life ; but the application of a test that 
would determine the true worth of knowledge 
might decide in opposition to the popular verdict. 
"With a broader view even of the interests of our 
earthly life, it might appear that the most potent 
influence among men is exerted by the thinker — 
the thinker who studies at the root of things, and 
ever and anon announces principles that control 
church and state, and guide the affairs of men. 

The value of a knowledge of the Rational Sciences 
appears in the nature of their object-matter. These 
sciences coirtain all that body of truth which is ne- 
cessary, fixed, and fundamental — all else is contin- 
gent, fleeting, and dependent ; and surely it is as 
important to understand the thought that furnishes 
the foundation and conditions the superstructure of 
knowledge as it is the work done by the laborers 
who simply adjust the materials. Besides, the 
Rational Sciences are the products of the Reason — 
the noblest of our mental faculties and the only one 
that distinguishes man as a being differing in kind 
from the lower animals. 

The value of a knowledge of the Rational Sciences 
appears further in the fact that herein are found 
properly discriminated and expressed, all our Pri- 
mary ideas without which all truth would be con- 
tingent, all beauty passing, all goodness relative — 
without which there would be no ground for a 
belief in a future life or in the existence of God. 



396 INSTKUCTION IN KATIONAL SCIENCES. 

It might be added, too, that their value appears in 
their relation to the Fine Arts. TheFine Arts are the 
efforts the Reason makes to realize its ideal forms. 
They impart their full meaning to him alone who 
can read the pure sentiment pictured on the canvas, 
enshrined in the marble, or uttered forth in poetry 
and music. 

2. The Value of the Rational Sciences in their Relations 
to other Sciences. — The study of the Empirical Sciences 
exclusively is apt to exert an evil influence upon the 
mind. Accustomed to seek a cause for every effect, 
the student of these sciences is easily led to doubt 
the freedom of the will or the existence of a great 
First Cause. He cannot be made to understand 
how there can be an Unconditioned Being; and if 
he adopt any views at all concerning religion it will 
most likely be those of the Pantheist or the Fatalist. 

No one by walking in the treadmill of the Formal 
Sciences can ever do more than demonstrate the 
particular truths that lie embodied in the general 
truths which he accepts without inquiry as to their 
source or nature. The stream of demonstration can 
never rise higher than its fountain. 

The Rational Sciences constitute the bases of all 
other sciences. Unless grounded upon such bases, 
these sciences would be like floating vessels with no 
anchors. Unsubstantial as they may seem to the 
unthinking, all our knowledge rests upon the 
intuitions of the Reason. Take these from under 
the Empirical or Formal Sciences and beautiful 
parts might still remain, but there could be no 
scientific systems. Like the crumbling ruins of an 



INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 397 

ancient temple, they would lie scattered in dispro- 
portioned and disordered fragments. There must 
be conditioning principles for all perceptions, for 
all judgments, for all reasonings ; and of such is the 
object-matter of the Rational Sciences composed. 
The intuitions of the Reason must work down to 
meet the intuitions of the Senses working up. Take 
away the Rational Sciences and you take away the 
heart of the other sciences — take away that which 
makes them sciences, that by which their facts 
and reasonings can only receive an intelligent 
interpretation. 

3. The Value of the Rational Sciences as Means of 
Discipline. — An end of study is discipline, what is 
the disciplinary value of the Rational Sciences ? 

These sciences concern the highest form of truth. 
They require the deepest insight, the clearest per- 
ception, the most exact definition, and the most 
careful reasoning of which the human mind is 
capable. They alone have furnished the great 
problems the solution of which has called out the 
full mental strength of such Philosophers as Plato, 
Kant, Cousin, and Hamilton. 

These sciences employ all the powers of the mind. 
In its pure form, truth is apprehended only by the 
Reason, but in its applied form all the mental facul- 
ties may be engaged in dealing with it. But if the 
discipline to be derived from the study of the Ra- 
tional Sciences, appertains to the Reason alone, no 
object in education can be higher than the develop- 
ment of that facult}^ By it there is revealed to man 
a world of truth, beauty, and goodness ; by it he is 

34 



898 INSTRUCTION" IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

distinguished from the brutes that perish, by it he 
reigns sovereign of this world, and by it he claims 
heirship to a higher one. 

The mental discipline resulting from the study of 
Language comes in good part from the relations of 
Language to the Rational Sciences. This is more 
emphatically true of the Formal Sciences ; and the 
hardest questions that may be asked in connection 
with the Empirical Sciences relate to ideas and not 
to facts. 

4. The Value of the Rational Sciences in preparing 
the Mind to accept Revealed Truth. — Empirical Science 
finds facts, classifies and generalizes them, but here 
its work ends, as it can neither account for its facts 
nor make its generalizations universal. To it nature 
is but an endless chain of links. It can find neither 
a beginning nor an end. In the view of the Induc- 
tive Philosophy, if the human, mind is anything 
different from matter, all its energizing is still sub- 
ject to the inexorable law of cause and eff*ect. 
According to it, there can be no free will, and, of 
course no right and wrong, — no God, and, of course, 
no inspiration, no revealed truth, no prophecy, no 
miracles. Empirical Science is well worthy of study 
in its own sphere, but it is incomplete by itself and 
needs Rational Science as a complement. 

The Formal Sciences accept necessary and uni- 
versal truths as facts, but make no inquiry as to 
what they are or whence they come. They carefully 
evolve from them particular principles relating to 
space, and time, and the laws of thought, but neither 
Mathematics nor Logic can solve the highest prob- 



1 

i 



INSTEUCTIOX IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 399 

lems of life. They are means, not ends. They 
reveal truths, not truth. They treat of the Formal 
above nature but the soul asks for the Real above 
nature. 

On the contrary, if we find a ground in the Reason 
for faith in the doctrines of human responsibility, 
the immortality of the soul, the existence of God, 
the way is open for an intelligent acknowledgment 
of the Bible as the inspired Word of God. Truth 
does come into the mind without reasoning, whence? 
May not God inspire it ? Or, may He not so sanc- 
tify the Reason that He can use it to utter forth 
His counsel to a sinful world ? May not prophets 
foretell future events, since from a certain standpoint 
all truths are universal as to time ? And does not 
the power of free origination render miracles not 
only possible but necessary ? 

A God in nature if such a conception can be 
entertained, ma}^ be governed by the laws of nature ; 
but a God both in and above nature, from whom 
nature came, must rule and regulate His vrorks and 
can in no wise be subject to the laws that govern 
them. All skepticism has its root in an erroneous 
or incomplete philosophy. The highest office of 
the Reason is to believe without reasoning — to have 
faith in things unseen — to look up like Stephen 
through the opening Heavens and see revealed the 
mysteries of God. 

Before we can treat intelligently of methods of 
teaching the.Rational Sciences, we must characterize 
their object-matter more definitely. This object- 
matter consists, first, in Frimary Fcleas, or ideas of 



400 I^TSTRUCTION IN KATIONAL SCIENCES. 

tlie True, the Beautiful, and the Good ; second, in 
Criteria, or standards hy which may be determined 
what is true, beautiful, and good ; third, in Axiomatic 
Truths, or that body of principles from which deduc- 
tions and demonstrations are made ; fourth, in De- 
ductions and Demonstrations, or the processes of 
evolving less general principles from those more 
general, and of bringing new truths under principles 
already established; fifth, in Applications, or the 
adapting of abstract principles to concrete facts. It 
is not pretended that the matter belonging to these 
several classes is entirely distinct, but the classifica- 
tion will be found convenient. Strictly considered, 
the Eational Sciences embrace only the matter indi- 
cated by the first three classes. 

1. Primary Ideas. — I do not think there are any 
principles in the mind that are strictly innate. There 
are doubtless innate forces and laws governing these 
forces, but we never become conscious of them as 
principles except upon the occasions of some experi- 
ence. An idea is the result of two factors — a sub- 
ject thinking and an object thought. But while 
this is true as to the origin of intuitive principles, 
we are constantly making use of these principles in 
ways which show that they necessarily transcend all 
possible experience and therefore cannot be derived 
from experience. As soon as we understand what 
parallel lines are we know that such lines can never 
meet although we cannot follow them to the end. 
A single act of dishonest5^ is sufficient to suggest the 
principle that all dishonesty is wrong. In ordinary 
inductions many concurrent facts must exist before 



INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 401 

we are safe in inferring a principle, and tlien we are 
not quite sure that the principle extends beyond the 
facts investigated. Here one fact suffices to bring 
up before the mind a universal and necessary prin- 
ciple. If a body of such principles exist, it follows 
that there must be a source in the mind out of which 
they come or out of which comes the power to re- 
cognize them. This source we call the Reason, and 
its legitimate products, its intuitions, we call Primary 
Ideas — Primary, because arising simultaneously with 
experience, it is only by their means that experience 
can be understood. God made the universe after 
archetypal ideas in His mind, and so our Primary 
Ideas give form to all we know and to all we do. 

These Primary Ideas may be arranged as previ- 
ously shown into three categories, the True, the 
Beautiful, and the Good. A final synthesis may 
unite them, but practically it is bpst to consider 
them separately, marking, as they do, the triune 
nature of man, and pointing, as perhaps they may, 
to a higher Trinity. 

For information as to the number, nature, and re- 
lations of these Primary Ideas, students must search 
works on Metaph^^sics. Our purpose is to charac- 
terize them only so far as is necessary to make 
understood what we have to say concerning the 
methods of teaching the sciences of whose object- 
matter they form a part. 

The idea of the true gives law to the Intellect. 
The Reason discovers directly only necessary truth, 
truth the opposite of which cannot be conceived^ 
but such truth furnishes the conditions under which 
all contingent truth is made to appear. The truths 

34* 



402 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

of all the sciences rest ultimately in the higher 
truths reached hy the insight of the Reason. 

The idea of the Beautiful gives law to the Feel- 
ings. An object is noticed, say a rose, and in addi- 
tion to those of its qualities which immediately 
effect the senses, it is found to possess something 
which leads us to pronounce it beautiful. What 
is that something? and whence the power that 
reveals it? To the first question no answer will 
be attempted here ; but to the second no hesitation 
is felt in saying that the source of the idea of the 
Beautiful is in the Reason. We discover Beauty as 
we discover truth by means of an original power 
with which God has endowed us. The beauty of a 
particular object may seem to result from an anal- 
ysis of objective properties, but further considera- 
tion will lead to the conclusion that the idea of the 
Beautiful, like the idea of the True, is not derived 
from but is necessary to experience ; and that it 
furnishes the forms with which all beauty corre- 
lates. We are able, indeed, not only to criticise the 
beauties of nature, but to create ourselves forms of 
beauty and express them in a manner calculated to 
awaken emotions of the Beautiful in all beholders. 

The idea of the Good gives law to the Will. A 
child knows but cannot be taught what is good. 
Without an idea of the Good native to the mind, 
the distinction of right and wrong would be as 
impossible to a man as to a brute. The idea of 
right and wrong cannot be a generalization of con- 
sequences, because it appears full formed on the 
first occasion. The Reason issues forth a voice to 
all who will listen to it demanding spiritual excel- 



INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 403 

lence — demanding love to man and love to God. 
There are appetites, passions, propensities ever 
tempting men to wrong-doing, ever leading them 
down to degradation and ruin ; but the Spirit is at 
war with these influences of the flesh, it warns men 
of danger, and points out the way to life, light, 
and love, 

2. The Criteria. — How are we to measure what 
is true, beautiful, and good? "What is truth?" 
asked Pontius Pilate of Christ when brought be- 
fore him, and the problem has been propounded 
thousands of times before and since. So, too, the 
questions, what is beauty ? and what is goodness ? 
have occupied a large place in the investigations of 
speculative Philosophers. It is not our intention 
to consider here the different theories which have 
been presented respecting the measure of truth, the 
standard of taste, or the rule of right. It appears 
to me, however, that these Criteria are neither 
found in the Objective nor the Subjective, but in 
the relation between the two. If I might venture 
to suggest a common Criterion for estimating truth, 
beauty, and goodness, I would do it in these words: 
Conformity of Object and Idea. Expressed with 
reference to each, it should be stated as follows : The 
measure of truth is conformity of the Ohjective with the 
Idea of the True ; the Standard of beauty is confor- 
mity of the Objective with the Idea of the Beautiful ; 
and the rule of right is conformity of the Objective with 
the Idea of the Good. With God there must be com- 
plete conformity of object and idea, but with man 
this conformity can never be complete, because he 



404 INSTKUCTION IN EATIONAL SCIENCES. 

cannot comprehend the Absolute and the Infinite. 
We know, indeed, that there must be a Being 
having unconditioned perfections, but we cannot 
by searching find Him out. The Reason is the 
light of the soul — the spark of Divinity within us ; 
but it is still human Reason with finite powers. 

3. Axiomatic Truths. — An Axiomatic Truth is 
a self-evident, necessary, and universal principle, 
known to be true by intuition. Such truths under 
the names of Axioms, Canons, Maxims, Rulee, 
furnish the foundation upon which all the sciences 
rest. The whole body of Axiomatic Truths belongs 
to the Rational Sciences. It is the province of 
these sciences to discover them, to test them, and 
to arrange them into classes. Those which are 
evolved from the idea of the True and can be 
tested by the measure of truth belong to Philo- 
sophy ; those which are evolved from the idea of 
the Beautiful and can be tested by the standard of 
beauty belong to Esthetics ; and those which are 
evolved from the idea of the Good and can be 
tested by the rule of right belong to Ethics. Lists 
of such principles as are considered to belong to 
each of these sciences respectively might be given, 
but they are not essential to the purpose of a work 
like this. 

4. Deductions and Demonstrations. — The Deduc- 
tions and Demonstrations of Philosophy are those 
of Mathematics, Logic, Physics, which are, in the 
sense now contemplated, branches of it. 

The Deductions and Demonstrations which relate 



INSTRUCTION IN EATIONAL SCIENCES. 405 

to the laws of taste, or the cannons of criticism con- 
stitute an important part of Esthetics. 

The Deductions and Demonstrations which relate 
to the rules which govern human conduct belong to 
Ethics. 

All Deductions and Demonstrations are essentially 
the same, and, having explained their nature on a 
preceding page, it is unnecessary to repeat it here. 

5. Applications. — Philosophy has its applications 
in the applications of all the sciences. The wise 
recognize in every single truth the evidence of a 
greater truth which involves it, and trace the most 
general of all truths directly to their source in the 
Keason. The Reason, if rightly used, carries the 
thoughtful inquirer up to God, who placed it mid- 
way, as it were, between earth and Heaven, where, 
not too distant to preside over the affairs of men, it 
could still see the glories of the Promised Land 
afar off. 

Esthetics has its applications in all that is beau- 
tiful in nature and art. No enumeration can be 
made of the beauties of nature. They are found 
everywhere, above, beneath, and around us. Then 
we have Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Poetry, 
Music — wdiat tongue can picture the beauties which 
they express ? But neither nature nor art can fur- 
nish a type of beauty so perfect as that which may 
be seen in a heautifid life. 

Ethics has its applications in what relates to 
human rights and duties. These have reference to 
all the relations of life, in the family, school, state, 
and church. Ethics teaches men how to live, 



406 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

Religion prepares them for a state of immortality 
beyond the grave. 

Thus would I construct into a system the object- 
matter of the Rational Sciences. In so doing, I 
desire to detract nothing from the importance or the 
dignity of other sciences. I am profoundly con- 
vinced, however, that all the sciences point upward 
toward a centre, and that that centre is the Reason ; 
and I am as profoundly convinced that the Reason 
points upward to a Source, and that that Source is 
God. 

It needs not now that much space be taken up in 
discussing the methods of teaching the sciences 
which have just been characterized. A teacher who 
understands them, and enters upon the work of in- 
struction with a love for it, can hardly be mistaken 
as to the methods to be adopted. 

All the education a child can receive in the direc- 
tion of the Rational Sciences, is to increase his 
experience. He should be allowed every oppor- 
tunity of seeing what is true, beautiful, and good ; 
and his own heart should be kept pure that his 
sight may be free from distortion. A child can 
perceive truth, beauty, and goodness, and enjoy 
their contemplation long before he can analyze the 
powers or the process by which he does it, just as 
he can see long before he can understand the philo- 
sophy of vision, ^o department of education can 
be nobler than that which opens up to the young 
these sources of the purest enjoyment earth can 
furnish, and from which their minds and hearts can 



INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 407 

be filled with images of perfection that will ever 
tend to elevate and ennoble them ; but this kind of 
education is rather a training than a teaching pro- 
cess ; and, in its details, a. discussion of it belongs 
more appropriately to " Methods of Culture" than 
to "Methods of Instruction." 

Primary Ideas must be practically operative in the 
mind before their existence or potency can be recog- 
nized. A child cannot begin to think without their 
agency being involved in the process. A child 
knows that his mother's face to-day is the same face 
that bent over him yesterday; that another face 
differing from his mother's!* is not hers ; that if the 
stove is hot it cannot be cold; and that if his hand 
is burned against the stove, something burned it; 
and, in these simple acts, may be recognized the 
great Fundamental Laws of Thought as stated by 
Logicians — laws according to which all thinking is 
done. But these laws have their ground in the 
Reason — in the idea of the True. So, too, a child 
is pleased with what is beautiful, and can determine 
what is good at a very early age ; thus showing that 
the ideas of the Beautiful and the Good, as well as 
of the TiTie, have a potential existence in his mind. 

But while these ideas are operative in the mind 
of a child, and thus become an important element 
to be considered by the educator, no formal instruc- 
tion can be given in respect to them before the 
mind is well matured. When old enough to notice 
what passes in his own mind, and to philosophize 
concerning it, the student may be taught to distin- 
guish Primary Ideas, to investigate their nature and 
relations, and to arrange them into classes. These 



408 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

ideas are tilings to be observed and discriminated 
by the powers of internal perception. The mode 
of investigating them does not differ, as I suppose, 
from that followed in the investigation of the objects 
of sense ; but the mind has great difficulty in study- 
ing its own products, and especially those which are 
as deeply hidden and as much beyond the power of 
analysis as those now under consideration. 'No 
forms of words, no analogical illustrations will con- 
vey to the pupil's mind clear instruction concerning 
such principles. He must use his own insight to 
detect them, his own powers of observation to in- 
dividualize and characterize them. All he can learn 
of them must be realized in his own experience, or 
his knowledge will consist only of skeleton forms 
with nothing to fill them. It requires long, careful, 
tiresome labor to reach down into the mind's deepest 
self and study the secret foundations of knowledge; 
but all who possess the ability and the patience to 
accomplish the work will be well repaid. 

The most a teacher can do for a pupil in these 
abstruse regions of thought is to lead him from the 
concrete to the abstract, from the- limited to the 
unlimited, from the conditioned to the uncondi- 
tioned. For example, take the idea of space. The 
pupil knows what constitutes a particular space, he 
can gradually add body to body until his idea of 
space is vastly expanded, and then, perhaps, he may 
rise to the comprehension of that space which con- 
tains the universal whole of things. The idea of 
perfection may be communicated by leading the 
pupil from one object to another, each more perfect 



INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 409 

than the preceding. These examples will serve for 
all cases as all are alike. 

It ought to be remarked that our Primary Ideas, 
as a whole, have not been carefully studied by Phi- 
losophers. A master-mind is needed to present 
them in an order suitable for study. 

Little agreement exists among writers as to the 
Criteria by which we determine what is true, beau- 
tiful, or good. Practically, however, there is less 
diversity of opinion, and men will coincide in pro- 
nouncing a thing true, beautiful, or good, who will 
differ as to the principles which guide their judg- 
ments. Here, as elsewhere, we can see more clearly 
with our eyes of sense than with our eyes of Reason. 
In teaching, therefore, it seems best, as has been 
already intimated, to acquaint pupils with things 
that are true, beautiful, and good — to widen their 
experience, as much as possible, in respect to nature, 
art, and life, before directing their attention to the 
abstract, ideal standards of perfection which the 
Reason furnishes. It is, indeed, only after such 
experience that any one can duly appreciate the 
noblest power God has given to men — the power 
of discriminating truth from error, beauty from 
deformity, right from wrong. 

It has been stated that the common Criterion for 
determining truth, beauty, and goodness is Con- 
formity of Object and Idea. This Idea is a direct 
product of the Reason ; and in its abstract form is 
perfect and alike in all individuals. The Reason 
admits no culture ; it sees, like the eye, at once and 
correctly ; it is never inconsistent with itself. But 
the faculties that take cognizance of the Object are 
35 



410 INSTRUCTION IN" RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

« 

liable to err. It is scarcely possible for an Object to 
be so presented or represented to the mind as to 
stand out clear in its essential properties and rela- 
tions. Hence men differ in regard to what is true, 
beautiful, and good, because their knowledge is im- 
perfect. Practically, there never can be a complete 
conformity of object and idea; and, practically, each 
man has his own standard of perfection. His is 
the most perfect standard who possesses the highest 
culture. A child or a savage must have a low 
standard. It is the business of education, as applied 
here, to make observation more exact, the memory 
more tenacious, the imagination more faithful, the 
judgment more true, to set things in their proper 
light, to free thinking from all imperfections, to 
prepare the way for the Reason ; and then will 
appear truth, beauty, and goodness in all the per- 
fection which a human mind can appreciate. 

Evolved out of Primitive Ideas and tested by the 
Criteria of the Reason, are Axiomatic Truths. These 
principles are operative in the mind from the first 
dawning of intelligence. No experience is possible 
without them, and yet it is only by means of expe- 
rience that we become conscious of their existence, 
or can give them articulate expression. They have 
been called "generalized intuitions," and, perhaps, 
this name designates their genesis with sufUcient 
clearness, as it certainly points out the mode of 
teaching them. With ordinary experience. Axiom- 
atic Truths are recognized at once as self-evident 
and necessary; but they cannot be so recognized 
without a certain degree of experience. It ought 
to be added, however, that Axiomatic Truths are 



INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 411 

generalizations of an entirely different kind from 
those of the Empirical Sciences — the latter simply 
embrace what has been experienced, while the 
former transcend all possible experience. 

Dr. M'Cosh, in discussing the nature of the truths 
now under consideration, uses the following language 
not less valuable to the Philosopher than suggestive 
to tlffe Teacher. "The principle" (an Axiomatic 
Truth) '^ thus discovered and enunciated is properly 
a metaphysical one ; it is a truth above sense, a 
truth of mind, a truth of reason. It is different in 
its origin and authority from the general rules 
reached by experience, such as the law of gravita- 
tion, or the law of chemical affinity, or the law of 
the distribution of animals over the earth's surface. 
These latter are the mere generalizations of experi- 
ence necessarily limited ; they hold good merely in 
the measure of our experience, and as experience 
can never reach all possible cases, so the rule can 
never be absolute ; we can never say there may not 
be exceptions. Laws of the former kind are of a 
higher or deeper nature, they are the generalizations 
of convictions carrying necessity with them, and a 
consequent universality in their very nature. They 
are entitled to be regarded as in an especial sense 
philosophic principles, being the ground to which 
we come when we follow any system of truth suf- 
ficiently far down, and competent to act as a basis 
on which to erect a superstructure of science. They 
are ti*uths of our original constitution, having the 
sanction of Him who hath given us our constitution, 
and graven them there with His own finger." 

" It is ever to be borne in mind, however, that the 



412 INSTRUCTIOK IN" RATIONAL SCIENCES. 

detection and exact expression of these intuitive 
principles is always a delicate and is often a most 
difficult operation. Did they fall immediately under 
the eye of consciousness, the work would be a com- 
paratively easy one ; we should only have to look 
within in order to see them. But all that conscious- 
ness can notice are their individual exercises mixed 
up with one another and with all other actings of 
the mind. It requires a microscopic eye and much 
analytic skill, to detect the various fibres in the com- 
plex structure, and to follow each through its various 
windings and entanglements to its source." 

Reaching the stage of Deductions and Demonstra- 
tions, the Eational Sciences become virtually as to 
methods, Formal Sciences, the methods of teaching 
which have already been treated of. 

ISTeither need much be said in this connection 
concerning the methods of teaching the Applications 
of the Rational Sciences, because wherever principles 
are applied to facts the process is the same. 

The work of teaching must commence with Ap- 
plications. All a child does he is impelled to do by 
some principle operative upon him. When he first 
learns to recognize truth, beauty, or goodness, he 
does it by applying principles active in his mind but 
of which he is unconscious. In the field of Philoso- 
phy, let the teacher present to him truth as it exists 
in the sciences, at first simple, afterwards, more 
complex. In the field of Esthetics, let the teacher 
show him objects beautiful, grand, sublime, and 
teach him to love them. In the field of Ethics, let 
the teacher make constant appeals to his conscience, 



INSTRUCTION IX RATIONAL SCIENCES. 413 

quickening it by exercise in cletermining riglit and 
wrong. 

Thus growing in his know^ledge of w^hat is true, 
beautiful, and good, there will come a time wdien 
turning his mind in upon itself, the student can be- 
hold those great, universal, and necessary principles 
which condition all truth, all beauty, and all good- 
ness ; and, armed with these, he can then go forth, 
not as a child using intellectual instincts simply, but 
as a man applying the Divine gift of Reason, to 
interpret the world of matter, of mind, of life. 

35* 



CHAPTEK VL 

INSTRUCTION IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

History describes tlie past condition and actions 
of men, and investigates the causes which have 
operated to produce them. History may be thus 
either a Narrative of Facts or a System of Philo- 
sophy, and methods of teaching it must be chosen 
adapted to the different kinds of object-matter to 
which they are applied. We will therefore speak, 
first, of Methods of Teaching the Facts of History ; 
and, afterwards, of Methods of Teaching the Philo- 
sophy of History, 

I. Methods of Teaching the Facts of History. 

The Facts of History comprise the sum of the 
events that man has brought about in all the teem- 
ing centuries since first he inhabited the earth. The 
number is beyond the power of the imagination to 
conceive, and Historians do not attempt to enumer- 
ate them. They describe some of the grandest and 
most interesting features of a nation's life, and 
leave the rest to be inferred or forgotten. 

The great Masters of History relate how and by 
whom nations were settled ; how they were pro- 
tected in infancy, and what strength and prosperity 
they attained in manhood ; and if fallen they have, 
how they fell. They tell the ^iory of their civil 

(414) 



THE FACTS OF HISTORY. 415 

and political affairs, their comnaerce, mannfactures, 
agriculture, arts, sciences, and domestic life — their 
provisions for education, systems of religion, codes 
of laws, and forms of government. They describe 
the results of their wars at home and abroad, the 
revolutions through which they have passed, their 
manly resistance to tyranny on the one hand or 
their tame submission to slavery on the other, and 
those great throes which every healthy nation makes 
to cast off the evil influences that, cancer-like, 
threaten to eat away its life or those spasmodic 
death-struggles which mark a decaying nation's 
downfall. 

Such are the Facts of History, and we will con- 
sider : 1. The nature of these Facts. 2. The pecu- 
liar difficulties which are encountered in their study. 
8. A proper course of study in respect to them. 
4. General suggestions in regard to teaching them. 

1 . The ]S"ature of the Facts of History. — Suf- 
ficient has been said elsewhere in regard to the 
method of imparting to a child a knowledge of 
ordinary facts ; but Historical facts generally differ 
from other facts in several important particulars. 

Historical facts as taught in our schools must 
nearly always be furnished by testimony. A large 
number of the facts which constitute the natural 
sciences can either be observed directly or verified 
by experiment. The pupil is not compelled to rely 
upon what others say ; he can examine for himself. 
In history, however, the case is different ; his senses 
are of little use ; he must rely upon authority. 

Historical facts are connected by synchronal or 



416 INSTRUCTION" IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

chronological relations, and not hy relations of kind 
or quality. The reverse of this is the case with the 
natural sciences, and it must constitute a difference 
between these sciences and History. 

Historical facts are the acts of Free Agents. All 
else is controlled by inexorable laws — moves only 
as it is moved by forces acting from without ; but 
man is a law unto himself, and acts of his own will. 
These differences cannot be safely overlooked in 
teaching History. 

2. The Peculiar Difficulties which are En- 
countered IN THE Study of the Facts of History. 
— Owing to the nature of the events recorded in 
History and the circumstances controlling their nar- 
ration, peculiar difficulties are encountered by the 
student in obtaining a correct knowledge of them. 
These events occurred in the Past — many of them 
in the distant Past, and this alone is calculated to 
cast doubt upon their authenticity ; but, in addition 
to this, when we consider the proneness of mankind 
to misrepresent their own actions, the prejudices 
of Historians, and their too often scanty and unre- 
liable information, and the influences which may 
have subsequently tended to pervert what was origi- 
nally fairly represented, w^e may well wonder whether 
there is any truth at all in History. 

"Writers upon the Natural Sciences lessen the 
labor of learners by making careful classifications — 
classes, orders, genera, species. Without this, the 
boldest student would hardly undertake the task 
of mastering the vast multitude of facts which 
these sciences now comprehend. The Facts of 



THE FACTS OF HISTORY. 417 

History do not admit similar scientific classification. 
Cotemporaneoiis events can be grouped together, 
or an order of succession can be followed in nar- 
rating Historical facts ; but that power of associa- 
tion, so valuable to men of science, which enables 
us to recall one thing from its resemblance to some- 
thing else, cannot be used to much advantage in 
the study of History. 

Science in almost all her departments reveals a 
series of efi^ects and causes — conditions and condi- 
tioning. In nature, like causes produce like effects 
regardless of time or place. Hence the truths dis- 
covered by the ancient philosophers are valid to- 
day. The events of History are not uncaused. 
There may be chains of causation linking all of 
them together. But he who regards the Facts of 
History in the same light with which he regards 
the facts of other sciences, will but poorly compre- 
hend them. Man has a spiritual, as well as a mate- 
rial, nature ; and this enables him to move against, 
as well as with, nature. The building of a house, 
the making of a law, the fighting of a battle, are 
facts, very different in meaning, from the consolida- 
tion of a rock, the uniting of an acid and an alkali, 
or the rushing of a storm. The former class of 
facts are the results of a free choice, while the 
latter class are the effects of imperative laws. 

These instances sufficiently exemplify the prin- 
cipal peculiar difiiculties with which a student will 
meet in the study of History. The want of their 
appreciation has led both teachers and learners into 
the most serious errors. 



418 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

3. A Course of Study in the Facts of History. 
— If all other studies were neglected, a life-time is 
much too short to acquaint oneself fully with all 
the Facts of History which have been thought 
worthy of being recorded. Our schools can permit 
their pupils to devote but a small portion of their 
time to the study of History. Hence, the impor- 
tance of the inquiry as to what parts of History 
should be studied; and what order should be 
observed in studying them. 

The sources of Historical information open to 
the student, may be classified as follows : first, 
Detailed Histories, By these I mean Histories which 
contain a full account of some particular nation, 
state, or period of time. Some of these Histories 
are very voluminous. Second, Universal Histories. 
Universal Histories are such as profess to give an 
account of all the most important Historical facts 
in one connected narrative. They dififer greatly in 
extent, the number of volumes in some instances 
being but a few, and in others extending to more 
than a hundred. Third, Compends of History/. These 
contain brief outlines of some of the less interest- 
ing or less important parts of History, with fuller 
details respecting other parts. The most extensive 
Compends of History correspond in fullness and 
nature of details with the briefest Universal Histo- 
ries. Fourth, Fragments of History. This class is 
intended to embrace the Biographies of individuals, 
Descriptions of particular places or events. Accounts 
of travels, voyages, &c. They constitute the mate- 
rials of w^hich History is made up, and may therefore 
be considered Fragments of History. 



THE FACTS OF HISTORY. 419 

I will now indicate a course of study in History 
which will be found practical, and, I think, adapted 
to the condition of our schools. 

The first Historical matter I would place in the 
hands of children to be read or studied would be 
what I have denominated Fragments of History. 
Children commence learning all things by frag- 
ments ; and, if written in a suitable style, they will 
read the kind of writings now designated with re- 
markable avidity. Of this, the extensive sale of such 
works as Goodrich's and Abbott's Histories, and the 
Rollo Books, is a sufficient proof. This matter, in 
the form of voyages, travels, biographical sketches, 
historical narratives, may be arranged in lessons for 
reading in schools, it may be studied and recited, or 
it may be read at home. I cannot too earnestly in- 
sist that it is the duty of parents and teachers to en- 
courage children in a course of reading of the kind 
now referred to. They can accumulate in this w^ay 
a vast store of facts, before they reach the age of 
twelve, and before this age the}^ are generally unable 
to enter upon a more systematic course of stud3^ 

I would next require children to study in detail 
the principal facts in the History of their native 
land. -N'o one can well do without this knowledge, 
and to the citizen it seems indispensable. The law 
ought to require the History of the United States to 
be taught in all puplic schools. I am well aware 
that the History of one country cannot be fully un- 
derstood without some knowledge of the Histories 
of other countries with which it has been connected; 
but teaching must begin somewhere, and less diffi- 
culty will be found in commencing with the History 



420 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

of one's own country than with that of distant 
countries, or with general History. The reason is 
that pupils are hetter acquainted with the events 
that have transpired in their own country than with 
those that have transpired in others, and are na- 
turally more anxious to increase their knowledge in 
respect to the former than in respect to the latter. 

A knowledge of the History of their own country 
is about all that can be expected of pupils in our 
common schools; but pupils in High Schools, Acade- 
mies, and Colleges should study a good Compend of 
Universal History. This may be used as a text-book ; 
but the teacher should enliven his instruction by 
imparting many additional facts, and more Detailed 
Histories should be at hand so that the pupils might 
frequently refer to them. In this way, quite an ex- 
tensive knowledge of History can be acquired. 

It does not frequently happen that the time allotted 
to History will permit a more comprehensive course 
than that now indicated ; but, if so, I would recom- 
mend the study of the Detailed Histories of those 
Countries -in which we feel the deepest interest, 
which have exerted th^e^greatest influence upon us, 
or with which we are most closely connected. 
Among these countries I need scarcely name Judea, 
Greece, and Rome ; England, France, and Germany. 
'No one who aspires to be a scholar can neglect the 
reading of the Histories of these Countries, if he be 
under the necessity of pursuing the study by him- 
self. The Bible is the most important of all His- 
tories, since it is the History of God's dealings with 
men. Its truth is for all nations, for all tongues, 
and for all people. 



the facts of histoey. 421 

4. General Suggestions in regard to Teaching 
THE Facts of History. — There are two principal 
methods of arrangement followed in writing works 
on History, the Ethnographic and the Synchronistic. 
The Ethnographic method narrates the History of a 
particular race or nation, without reference to the 
History of other races or other nations any further 
than is necessary to illustrate or explain the main 
design. Detailed Histories, in the sense I have 
defined them, are Ethnographic in their method. 
Following the Synchronistic method, an Historian 
would group together and present in one view the 
events of a particular era wherever they might have 
occurred. Universal Histories and Compends of 
History are usually arranged according to the Syn- 
chronistic method. The teacher will at once 'per- 
ceive that the best method to be followed in teachins: 
depends upon the object he desires to attain. When 
written. Histories may be studied in a Progressive or 
a Regressive order. It is evident that, if events are 
arranged in a chronological order, we can either 
ascend the scale thus formed or descend it — we can 
either proceed from antecedents to consequents or 
from consequents to antecedents. Teachers usually 
follow the progressive order, and for beginners, at 
least, it is the most natural and the most interest- 
ing. For advanced pupils and in reviews, I have 
found the Regressive method productive of good 
results. 

A knowledge of Geography and Anthropology 
are very essential to the intelligent study of History. 
Geography treats of the physical features of the 
earth, and the present condition of society ; and this 

36 



422 INSTEUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

forms the basis upon which rest the Facts, and, in 
part, the Philosophy of History. The hnown in 
History is the Present, and the Past can best be 
understood by a comparison with it; for the causes 
that modify our social relations ; give form to 
Governments ; advance the interests of science, art, 
education, and religion ; promote reformations, and 
bring about revolutions — are the same now as in by- 
gone centuries. Anthropology treats of man — his 
body, his mind, his relations to the world about 
him ; and this science is even more intimately con- 
nected with the study of History than Geography. 
Man lived History ; it is a record of himself; and 
can be understood only by understanding himself. 
Says Emerson, " Of the universal mind each indi- 
vidual mind is one more incarnation. All its pro- 
perties consist in him. Each new fact in his private 
experience flashes a light on what great bodies of 
men have done, and the crises of his life refer to 
national crises. Every revolution was first a thought 
in one man's mind, and when the same thought 
occurs to another man, it is the key to that era. 
Every reform was once a private opinion, and when 
it shall be a private opinion again, it will solve the 
problem of the age. The fact narrated must cor- 
respond to something in me to be credible, or in- 
telli2:ible." 

The Plistorical facts communicated, and the man- 
ner of communicating them should be such as to 
attract the attention and enlist the sympathy of the 
class of pupils for whom the instruction is intended. 
A Hume's or a Hallam's, a Gibbon's or a Guizot's 
Histories are works unsuitable for children, both in 



THE FACTS OF HISTORY. 423 

matter and iu style. It is a common error in our 
schools to place Histories of the United States in 
the hands of children who cannot appreciate the 
facts contained in them, or understand the language 
in which they are written. The best that can be 
expected under such circumstances is the mere 
memorized recitation of the words of the text-book. 
Facts of History can be found adapted to pupils of 
any age, and expressed in forms which render them 
agreeable to every taste ; and the teacher wdio fails 
to do his duty in selecting them can offer but a poor 
excuse. 

Our w^orks on History should present a lively 
picture of the Past. Even the best Histories con- 
tain much useless matter. It concerns us little to 
know the lineage of kings and queens, the intrigues 
of courts, or the plans of campaigns ; but it would 
interest us much to be told how people in past times 
built their houses, worked their fields, or educated 
their children — what style of dress they wore, what 
kind of food they eat, what books they read. We 
want Encyclopedias and Gazetteers for reference, 
and they may be full of dates, statistical tables, and 
lists of names ; but school Histories should present 
a true and life-like daguerreotype of things as they 
were — not a mere dead body with bones, muscles, 
and nerves minutely described, but without any soul 
in it. There is no good reason why History should 
not be as interesting to the young as Fiction. From 
School Histories, let bald, dry facts be omitted ; let 
the customs, manners, and doings of bygone people 
— life's quiet ongoings as well as its comedies and 
tragedies, be described in vivid word-pictures, and 



424 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

History will become a favorite study in all our 
schools. 

History should be taught from a series of pro- 
gressive stand-points. In the History of every 
nation, there are certain prominent events from 
which, as centres, other minor events have seemed 
to emanate, and to which they bear reference. These 
Historical nuclei with their connected circumstances 
should be minutely described, and, if well estab- 
lished in the learner's mind, he will recollect and 
understand other less important events from their 
relation to them. It is only of these great events 
that we need to know the dates or the minute par- 
ticulars. It seems a useless waste of time and labor 
to commit to memory a great number of dates to 
be speedily forgotten. These centres of influence 
in History do not exist simply in the History of 
particular nations, but they mark certain periods in 
the History of the world. The whole of human 
life is exhibited in a great drama, containing a 
series of connected and dependent Acts — each sepa- 
rated from the others by intervals of compara- 
tive rest. 

The style of Historical narrative should be clear, 
concise, and forcible. Long, elaborate, ornate sen- 
tences are out of place, at least, in Histories designed 
for school text-books. It would be unnecessary to 
make this suggestion, if the error it is intended to 
point out were less general. 

A knowledge of History can be turned to good 
account in all the varied affairs of life; its study 
furnishes valuable intellectual discipline, and for 
the purposes of moral instruction its claims are of 



THE FACTS OF HISTORY. 425 

a higher order than those of any other branch of 
learning. 'No better opportunity of awakening vir- 
tuous feelings can occur to the teacher than is pre- 
sented in the study of History, and it is nowise out 
of place here to urge that judicious advantage be 
taken of it. Moral examples have more influence 
upon the young than moral precepts. History pre- 
sents many examples of good and great men and 
women who honored by their noble deeds the age 
and country in which they lived. The heart is 
more easily moved to virtue by incidental than by 
direct teaching; and the faithful teacher will not 
fail to improve the occasions which so frequentl}^ 
occur in reciting lessons in History by planting 
moral seeds in the open hearts about him, well 
knowing that they wdll germinate and eventually 
produce rich fruit. I^o study is so useful in the 
formation of character as History. In the study 
of all other sciences pupils come into the possession 
of interesting facts and valuable principles, but in 
the study of History they see life. Great deeds are 
done by beings like themselves, and they cannot 
resist the desire to do like deeds. This cultivates 
the will, forms character, makes men. 

A teacher may be greatly aided in teaching 
History by using suitable maps, charts, engravings, 
and books for reference. The customs, manners, 
works of art, &c., which characterize the nations 
of the Past might be represented in a series of 
views by means of a Magic Lantern or a Stereo- 
scope. An article of dress, an implement of war- 
fare, the fragment of a statue, a coin used cen- 

36* 



426 INSTHUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

tiiries ago, if presented to illustrate a point in 
History, would create much interest in the study. 

II. Methods of Teaching the Philosophy of 
History. 

The preceding discussion has had reference to 
the Facts of History and the methods of teaching 
them. Until quite recently, the Facts of History 
constituted the whole of History. In other depart- 
ments of study, investigations were pushed beyond 
facts up to principles ; but the Historian seemed to 
think his task well done when he had set in proper 
array the actions of men and accompanied them 
with such reflections as seemed to him calculated 
either to interest or instruct his readers. It is not 
hard to conceive why the science of History should 
be later in its origin and slower in its growth than 
other sciences. Its facts are less easily ascertained 
and more difficult to verify ; the causes of these 
facts are many times so hidden as to be considered, 
even by wise men, inscrutable ; its generalizations 
require broader views and a deeper insight; and its 
ultimate formative principles are the most profound 
which the human mind ever essayed to grapple. 
Besides, in a hierarchy of the sciences, History 
occupies the highest place. It extends its all-em- 
bracing principles around all science, all art, all 
human conduct, and combines them into one organic 
whole ; finds unity in the diversity of the creation ; 
and exhibits all things as the development of the 
primal ideas after which God made them. A true 
teacher will not stop when he has described the 
facts of some historic era, and moralized upon 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 427 

them. He will feel that something more is due 
to students whom he debires to make thinkers than 
to have them merely con life's fitful story, or gaze 
at the strange drama man has acted upon the world's 
broad stage. 

The law of History has not been fully ascertained, 
data may now be wanting to ascertain it; but 
although all Historical phenomena cannot be fol- 
lowed back to their primary causes or forward to 
their ultimate effects, although no human intellect 
can tell where the series of events began or when 
it will end, to stop short of doing what may be 
done, is to dwarf the intellect and take away much 
that adds interest to the study of History. 

If the condition of society is not the result of 
chance, it must be due to the operation of laws. 
When these laws are ascertained and formed into 
a system, they constitute the Philosophy of History. 
Upon the nature of this Philosophy must depend 
the methods of teaching it, and this consideration 
will determine the order of the present discussion. 

1^0 argument will be entered upon here to dis- 
prove the doctrine of chance. The doctrine is 
such that no one can entertain it whose mental 
vision is able to grasp even the most common con- 
nexions and uniformities which are presented in 
the world about him. JSTor is the doctrine more 
applicable to the actions of men than to the works 
of nature! In the latter case the regularities may 
not be so apparent, but they are sufficiently so to 
discard from the .minds of all who rightly reflect 
upon them, the idea of chance ; and, if otherwise, 



428 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

each individual knows that he has, and generally 
he can give, a reason, good or bad, for the acts he 
has committed. 

If human actions are not the result of blind 
chance working from no motive and directed to- 
ward no end, they must be the effects of certain 
causes — the consequents of certain antecedents, 
and laws must rule the moral as well as the phy- 
sical world. Philosophy presents no more impor- 
tant and no more difficult problem than that which 
relates to the origin of these laws. Solve this ; and 
there is solved the great problem of History — the 
great problem of humanity. 

The laws from whose operation human conduct 
proceeds, may originate from three sources: 1st, 
From conditions imposed hy matter upon mind; 2d, 
From conditions imposed hy mind upon matter and upon 
itself ; 3d, From- conditions imposed hy Crod upon hoth 
matter and mind. ' Hence there can be three distinct 
theories of History, or three methods of building 
up a Philosophy of History ; and, as a matter of 
fact, some authors have given great prominence 
to the laws that originate from the first source 
named, some to those which originate from the 
second, and others to those which originate from 
the third, and may thus be divided into three classes. 
The theories resulting from this disposition of the 
subject, may be termed, respectively, the Material- 
istic, the Spiritualistic, and the Theistie, Theories. 
Some inquiries will be made concerning each in turn. 

1. The Materialistic Theory. — The advocates 
of the Materialistic Theory hold that all human 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 429 

conduct is to be accounted for by the influences 
imposed upon the race by material agencies ; that 
Free Will is a fiction ; that God's Providence is a 
myth ; that the human mind may act according to 
its own nature, but that its acts in all cases proceed 
from causes like those which govern matter. His- 
tory judged by this theory is simply an Empirical 
Science, built up in accordance with the Inductive 
method. No self-originated principles are admitted. 
All causes uncaused are denied. Events march on, 
first as antecedents, then as consequents, uncon- 
trolled either by man or God. Facts are collected, 
classifications formed, generalizations made, and 
scientific anticipations indulged in, with as little 
hesitation as in any other of nature's fields open for 
exploration, and with as much confidence seemingly 
in the applicability of the method made use of. 
Man is regarded as but a link in the endless chain 
of being ; and, like any other link, fast in his place 
— each thought, each feeling, each volition, each act, 
necessitated by laws beyond his control. Human 
actions are accounted for in the same way as the 
falling of an apple, the growth of a plant, r)r the 
building of a beaver's dam. If God did create all 
things in the beginning, His hand is nowhere now 
apparent in the working world. If man was at first 
so made that he could choose between good and 
evil, we have now no evidence that he exercises of 
himself such a choice. 

The best representative of the class of Historians 
who have adopted this theory, is Henry Thomas 
Buckle ; and, that the reader may see for himself 
what the}^ are, I will present some of his leading 



430 INSTRUCTIO^^r IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

principles. 1st. The actions of men are caused by 
their antecedents. 2d. These antecedents exist 
either in the human mind orin nature. 3d. Those 
which are found in the human mind do not result 
from free-will, or from Providential interposition. 
4th. The consciousness by which it is said we know 
that the will is free, is extremely fallible. 5th. It is 
gratuitous to assert that there is anything Provi- 
dential in History. 6th. That History is the modifi- 
cation of man by nature, and nature by man. 

With respect to the last proposition, it is hard to 
see how man can modify nature if he himself is 
bound by laws over which he has no control, unless 
it be in the same sense as a growth of trees, a school 
of fish, or a herd of bufialo modifies nature, or one 
part of nature modifies some other part. Allow 
man will in liberty and admit a Superintending 
Providence, and the problem of History might be 
expressed thus : History is the modification of man 
by nature, nature by man, and both by God. The 
incomplete notion of the problem of History enter- 
tained by Buckle is pointed out in this amended 
proposition ; what are considered his fundamental 
errors will be pointed out as this discussion proceeds, 
but the great fact, that nature modifies man, which 
he so ably presents, and so richly exemplifies, must 
now be recognized. 

Bossuet says: "And, as in all concerns there is 
that which prepares for them, that which determines 
their occurrence, and that which causes them to 
succeed, the true science of History is to observe 
the latent tendencies which have prepared great 
changes, and the important conjunctures which have 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTOKY. 431 

brought them into fact." When closely examined, 
it will be found that nature has given rise to many 
of these " latent tendencies which have prepared 
great changes," and produced many of these " im- 
portant conjunctures which have brought them into 
fact." The influences of nature upon man must 
therefore engage the earnest attention of one who 
desires to investigate the subtle laws that go to make 
up the Philosophy of History. Among the agencies 
most potent in their efiects upon man, as mentioned 
by Buckle, are climate, food, soil, and the general 
aspects of nature. Others, as air, light, electricity, 
might be added ; but, perhaps, the term climate, 
used in a very general sense, may embrace them. 
These agencies must have caused, to a great extent, 
the differences that now characterize the inhabitants 
of the earth : differences in size, form, features, 
color ;^ differences in temperament and taste, in cus- 
toms and habits, in manners and morals, in science 
and art, in religion. They must have done much 
to prompt emigrations and direct them, to determine 
the boundaries of nations, to control the employ- 
ments of the people, to point out the locations of 
cities, to fix governmental institutions, to bring 
about revolutions, to incite conquests,^ to foment 
wars, to secure peace, and to give character to all 
that belongs to human civilization. ISTo one at all 
acquainted with the present or past condition of the 
race, can be at a loss to find abundant instances 
illustrative of these efiects. 

Buckle infers from the regularity which is found 
to prevail even with respect to the actions of men 
which would seem least likely to be regular in their 



432 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

occurrence, that these actions " are governed by the 
state of society in which they occur." Statistics 
prove that nearly the same number of murders 
take place every year, and that they are committed 
in nearly the same way ; that there are about as many 
suicides one year as another, and that about as many 
use the same instrument for the purpose of self- 
destruction ; that the number of marriages annually 
contracted " is determined, not by the temper and 
wishes of the individuals, but by large general facts, 
over which individuals exercise no control;" that 
even the letters dropped into a Post-Office without 
superscriptions one year, about equals those simi- 
larly neglected other years. Facts like these do 
show in a surprising manner the influence upon 
man of causes existing without him — causes that 
can be ascertained only by investigating the facts. 
!N"ature modifies man, and no correct solution of the 
problem of History is possible wherein its influ- 
ences are not allowed for; but the gravest errors 
have arisen from ascribing to these influences eflects 
that other causes have produced. For example, to 
conclude that because certain actions of men occur 
with a good degree of uniformity in the same age 
and nation, that men never act from their own 
accord as free agents, is to draw a conclusion that 
the facts will by no means warrant. If some of 
our actions are regular, many more are irregular. 
Each individual does things every day of his life 
unlike others do them. J^Tew thoughts, new inven- 
tions, new discoveries in science and new works of 
art appear, and moral and religious duties are dis- 
charged — all as the products of a self-originating 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 433 

spirit. Men are all the time making choices, each 
unlike the choices of other men ; but, in view of 
this, because the sum of the particular choices 
during one year may about equal the sum of the 
particular choices for another year — though the 
same persons may not do the choosing — are we to 
conclude that no man makes his choice freely ? If 
men are free to act, does it follow that many will 
not act in the same way ? If all are necessitated 
alike in their actions by causes existing without 
them, why do not all perform like actions? It 
decides nothing against the doctrine of free agency 
to show that in the great aggregate of human ac- 
tions, men's choices — their likes and dislikes, their 
similarities and diversities — are uniform while their 
actions as individuals greatly diifer ; for this is just 
what would happen in the case of like beings who 
act partly from causes within themselves and partly 
from causes without themselves, but is wholly inex- 
plicable upon the ground that all human actions are 
cgnstrained by fixed laws. Social statistics may in- 
dicate the operation of general laws working inde- 
pendently of the human will ; but all this, when 
well understood, is entirely compatible with indi- 
vidual freedom. 

It is a legitimate mode of inquiry for the Historian 
to study the existing state of society in any or in 
all countries, to compare it with past states of 
society, and then to generalize into laws the uni- 
formities, or correlations, which may be found to 
prevail. By such investigations it has been ascer- 
tained that as society advances men are distinguished 
more by mental and less by bodily qualities ; that 
37 



434 INSTKUCTION IN HISTOEICAL SCIENCES. 

military occupations precede industrial ; that men 
first are disposed to explain phenomena by superna- 
tural agencies, next by metaphysical abstractions, 
and finally by observing the laws that govern them; 
that forms of government, modes of worship, the 
state of education and the arts, correlate w^ith the 
condition of the cotemporaneous civilization. These 
and other such laws have been stated and expounded 
by the illustrious French Philosopher, M. Comte, and 
his followers. It is evident, however, that all these 
laws are simply the generalizations of efiects, and 
constitute at the best but a body of Empirical 
truths. How can we account for the uniformities 
and correlations that are thus generalized ? This 
is the great problem of the Philosophy of History, 
Materialists think they can do so by estimating the 
influences of circumstances, matter and mind acting 
as natural causes ; but while they succeed in ex- 
pounding one of its elements they entirely fail as 
we have seen in solving the main problem. 

2. The Spiritualistic Theory. — It has been 
amply shown that men may be moved to act by the 
circumstances which surround them. 'No one seems 
to doubt that conditioned motives to action such as 
instincts and appetites, originate in his own nature. 
But the advocates of the Spiritualistic Theory of 
the Philosophy of History maintain that man was 
created with the powder of choosing good or evil, 
that there is a sense in wdiich the will is free, and 
though it may never act without ii reason, it always 
acts with an open alternative. If motives to action 
can originate spontaneously in man's spiritual na- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 435 

ture, a full recognition of the fact will introduce a 
potent element into the Philosophy of History 
which has no place in a Natural Philosophy. 

It is not proper here to enter upon a lengthy 
argument in favor of the doctrine that the Will 
finds motives within the spiritual nature which 
prompt it to act in contravention of all animal 
influences from within or physical influences from 
without, that it may reject all meaner influences 
and act solely with reference to absolute ends such 
as beauty, truth, and right, which are intuitions of 
the Reason, and cannot be derived from experience. 
Happily, however, little argument is needed, for 
the universal human consciousness affirms that the 
"Will is free in the sense we have defined it to be so ; 
men are everywhere held to be responsible for their 
conduct, and experience, legislation, language, all 
bear witness to this freedom. 

But our consciousness is extremely fallible, asserts 
Buckle. Men believe one thing at one time, and 
the opposite at another. We are conscious at times 
of the existence of spectres and phantoms. This 
abjection to the validity of consciousness arises from 
a mistaken view of its office. Consciousness merely 
reveals what exists or takes place in the mind. If 
I entertain one opinion to-day, and another to-mor- 
row, my consciousness remains the same, assuring 
me that I entertained a certain opinion and changed 
it. The change of opinion takes place in the intel- 
lect. The outer senses deceive us in regard to 
spectres and phantoms, not the consciousness, which 
only informs us as to what impressions are made 
upon these senses. Indeed, Ave know that we see or 



436 .INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

hear things only by being conscious of the seeing 
or hearing; for all we know of anything we are 
dependent upon the consciousness, and, if the con- 
sciousness cannot be relied upon, the foundation of 
all knowledge gives way, and we have nothing but 
chaos. The consciousness, then, which reveals 
w^hat takes place in the mind, enables us to know 
that there is a power within us which originates 
ends that no experience can account for, nor any 
logic discover, and that these ends may be freely 
chosen as against all other ends, come from whence 
they may. It is only by choosing the pure and 
noble ends furnished by the Reason that man lifts 
himself above the world of sense and expediency, 
and realizes that higher life — that true liberty, for 
which he was destined. 

The abstract idea of History is that of a develop- 
ment. Plants and animals come into being and 
mature by an unfolding process, and analogy would 
lead us to presume the same of man. We know 
enough of History to say that its facts are connected 
together organically, that they are a growth not an 
aggregation ; and this indicates, if it does not prove, 
their systematic evolution. [N'othing moves unless 
set in motion, so development cannot begin without 
the application of power. Whence this power? 
Primarily, from the Creator ; but man was created 
in the image of his Maker, and hence he too is a 
source of power, and the Historic development of 
his actions is modified by, if not mainly based upon, 
his own native forces. Unlike the plant or the 
animal, man can find a reason for many of his 
actions within himself: he may choose evil, and -a 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 437 

growth of evil actions will be the result ; he may 
choose good, and his life will yield abundant har- 
vests of rich fruit. As a matter of fact, he did 
choose evil, fell, and the consequent disasters have 
weighed heavily upon the world; but he may accept 
the sacrifice made for sinners, rise again, and in a 
life of purity, fulfill the design of his creation. Tlie 
growth of our animal nature is a development, but 
the conditions are all imposed from without ; the 
perfection of the spiritual nature is a development 
but one of a wholly difiFerent kind, and arises from 
the realization in life, of the ideal conceptions of 
beauty, truth and holiness, which can only be in- 
spired from within. From the antagonism of these 
two natures — antagonistic only on account of the 
disturbing element of sin — comes the warfare be- 
tween the flesh and the spirit, which is to be over- 
come at last by the reconciliation of man to God. 
There is nothing in this view which does not harmo- 
nize with the idea of development. Our acts may be 
evolved partly from the animal and partly from the 
spiritual nature, may be partly good and partly evil, 
without necessitating the disruption of their organic 
unity. The same stream in one part of its course 
may have its waters w^ild, turbid, and foul; while 
further on, they may become calm, and the sediment 
that rendered them impure sinking to the bottom, 
may leave them clear and pure. To one, therefore, 
who can take in the vast sweep of the Creator's 
plan, there can be no conflicting potentialities, and 
no valid argument can be brought against the theory 
that allows Free Agency to man from this source. 
It does not follow because man originates an end 

37* 



438 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

in his own Reason with reference to which he acts, 
that a Science of History is impossible. Quite 
otherwise, unless he acts in view of such an end, 
there can be no true science of anything. Besides, 
each individual life in the unity of its several stages, 
exemplifies the life of the race, and self-reflection 
will enable one to solve some of the most profound 
problems in History ; and no man who reflects about 
himself has ever failed to acknowledge his responsi- 
bility for his acts — a fact totally irreconcilable with 
the doctrine of I^ecessity. 

Unless a spontaneous cause be found in the human 
mind, it seems impossible to account for the influ- 
ence upon society exerted by belief and thought. 
Says Mill : " Every considerable advance in material 
civilization has been preceded by an advance in 
knowledge ; and when any great social change has 
come to pass, a great change in the opinions and 
modes of thinking of society had taken place. Poly- 
theism, Judaism, Christianity, Protestantism, the 
negative philosophy of modern Europe, and its posi- 
tive science — each of these has been a primary agent 
in making society what it was at each successive 
period, while society was but secondarily instru- 
mental in making them, each of them (so far as 
causes can be assigned for its existence) being mainly 
an emanation, not from the practical life of the 
period, but from the state of belief and thought 
during sometime previous." Can it be supposed 
that ''belief and thought" from which come such 
results are attributable to the ordinary operation of 
physical causes upon mind ? Can man move only 
with the wheel of nature? Did God make the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 439 

world and then witlidraw forever His creating hand ? 
All we know of social phenomena seem to me to 
furnish a negative response. 

The Philosophy of History has been more care- 
full}^ studied in Germany than in any other country, 
and as the subject is one of the most vital impor- 
tance, I will present the opinions of a few of the 
greatest German thinkers in illustration of the views 
here taken. 

Kant says : " Reason is the faculty which furnishes 
the principles of cognition a priori.'' If principles 
are furnished at all by the reason, it is evident that 
these principles may become objects of desire — 
ends of action, and thus move the will so to act that 
the conduct may be in conformity thereto. And, 
after all, the freedom of the will must be determined 
by determining the sources of knowledge. It is well 
ascertained that for every act of Knowing there may 
be an act of Feeling, and consequently an act of 
Willing. We know through the senses, and of 
course our conduct is influenced by the world of 
sense ; but if the mind has power to cognize princi- 
ples evolv'ed from itself — and we have previously 
shown that it has this power — then, may the con- 
duct be influenced by these principles, and man 
ei.ther is or may become a Free Agent. Had Kant 
written a Philosophy of History, he would not have 
overlooked the effects attributable to the autonomic 
potency of the human spirit. 

Fichte's system consists of a Theoretical and a 
Practical division. The fundamental axiom of his 
Practical division is, " That tl^e not-me is affirmed 
as determined by the we." This proposition, whether 



4-iO INSTRUCTI0N IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

true or false, indicates to those who "anderstand it, 
with sufficient clearness, the author's opinions in 
regard to the Historic element now under discus- 
sion. But his views are further expressed bj Morell 
as follows : "The mind has a purely rational nature, 
by virtue of which it sets before itself.its own aim, 
the object of its own free activity. To deny this 
would be to deny the very existence of mind itself: 
to ask why it is so, would be to ask why truth is 
truth." Fichte's "Idea of Universal History" is 
that of a free spirit struggling to surmount obsta- 
cles of its own creation, " seeking to bring into 
actual existence all that lies potentially in its con- 
sciousness." This constitutes his "world-plan" and 
designates his place among writers on the Philoso- 
phy of History. 

Schelling maintains the existence of a faculty 
which intuitively discovers the Absolute. A mind 
possessing such a faculty must be in some sense free 
in its actions. But we are not left to inference in 
regard to Schelling' s views of Histor3\ Morell 
states them as follows : " History is the absolute 
combination of the freedom of the individual with 
the necessary development of the race. Every act 
of which History is composed is a free act ; and yet 
man, with all his freedom, cannot help contributing 
to the accomplishment of the destiny of the whole 
nation and whole race to which he belongs." 

Hegel starts out with the astounding proposition 
that Sein = Nichts, or that Being equals Nothing ; and 
derives the idea of existence from the combination 
or contradiction of^Being and Nothing. From this 
point he proceeds to expound in a series of logical 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTOPwY. 441 

triads the origin and laws of matter, the life of man, 
and the process hy which God himself is realized — 
this last process in his Philosophy including the 
first two processes, or in other words all the on- 
goings of nature and all the thoughts and actions 
of men are but the unfoldino; of God. Heo^el ad- 
mitted no Creator. From nothing he developed 
existence, and then started a movement which in 
turn unfolded from it, logic, nature, mind, and God 
as a Divine personality. After assuming a series 
of conditions and annulling them, the Divine Spirit 
seems to attain freedom, in the freedom attained by 
men ; but with Hegel there can be no such thing 
a& individual Free Agency. Buckle binds mankind 
with the laws of matter, Hegel fetters him with the 
laws of thought. Buckle might admit a great First 
Cause, simply as an abstraction, while Hegel thinks 
he finds God only as the final product of all causation. 
The Philosophy of the former tends toward Atheism, 
and that of the latter is unadulterated Pantheism. 

Schlegel's " Philosophy of History" was written 
at about the same time that Hegel delivered his 
"Lectures on History," and yet there is a wide 
difi:erence in the doctrines of the two philosophers. 
Schlegel looks upon the freedom of man and the 
Providence of God as the two principal Historic 
elements. He writes, "Without this freedom of 
choice, innate in man or imparted to him — this 
faculty of determining betAveen the divine impulse 
and the suggestions of the spirit of evil — there would 
be no History, and without a faith in such a prin- 
ciple there could be no Philosophy of History.*' 
And again, "Without the idea of a God-head regu- 



442 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

lating the course of human destiny, of an all-ruling 
Providence, and the saving and redeeming power of 
God, the History of the world would he a labyrinth 
without an outlet — a confused pile of ages buried 
upon ages — a mighty tragedy without a right be- 
ginning, or a proper ending." 

3. The Theistic Theory. — The Theistic Theory 
recognizes God as the Creator of all things, and 
holds that He imposed and continues to impose 
certain conditions upon both nature and man, and 
that these must be taken into the account in philo- 
sophizing about History. 

It is impossible to think that the creation did irot 
begin to be — even Hegel's dialectic movement must 
start — and if so, it must have had an Author. Mo- 
dern science has shown that new kinds of plants 
and new races of animals have been at various 
epochs introduced into the world, and if so, there 
is no alternative but to regard such facts as the 
result of the direct interposition of the same Power 
that originally called the earth itself into existence. 

God evinces his power in "History. E'ations rise 
and fall. "Whole races disappear and new men 
spring as it w^ere from the ground to take their 
places. Great multitudes of people are moved by 
a common impulse, for which no one can account, 
to emigrate, to reform, to become religious. Inven- 
tions and discoveries are made just when most 
wanted. Genius gives birth to science and art. 
Great men seem born for the times in which they 
live. Crises occur in human aftairs, and when 
all men despair, help comes, whence no one can 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 443 

tell. These events and such as these, though to 
some extent the result of the potency of nature or 
the potency of will, indicate that the God who 
made the world still rules it. Without the idea of 
God regulating the affairs of men, History would 
be a grand chaos of disconnected facts and discor- 
dant elements, as already quoted, a "Confused pile 
of ages buried upon ages." 

As individuals; nearly all persons acknowledge 
the Providence of God. The common instincts of 
mankind all point in this direction. The lowest 
grade of savages entertain it in some form or other, 
cultivated Heathen nations admit it, and Christians 
everywhere hold that God ofttimes strengthens them 
in the performance of good, and ofttimes speaks 
comfort to the sorrowing spirit. If these instances 
were few, distant, or isolated, no general conclusion 
should be drawn from them ; but in all ages, in all 
climes, and among all people, the common belief 
has been that the hand of God is frequently appa- 
rent in the affairs of men, and it is a monstrous 
libel upon human nature to deny it. To me the 
same consciousness that reveals the idea of God, 
reveals Him as the Maker, Preserver, and Ruler 
of the universe ; and I hold both revelations alike 
valid. 

I have not yet referred to the Bible, nor need I. 
Those who believe it to be true, have already real- 
ized its effect upon mankind ; and those who dis- 
believe it, would not be pursuaded by arguments 
based upon it. Some good Christians, however, 
think that, with Christ and his immediate Disciples, 
God ceased to manifest himself by Special Provi- 



444 INSTRUCTION. IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

dences ; to them it might be said that the operations 
of the Holy Spirit must continue to be a special in- 
terposition of God, and the conversion of every 
sinner is a miracle. No man ever yet lifted himself 
up from sin and death, to purity and life. God must 
aid him in this work, and all sUch help is a Special 
Providence. 

Much in History is Providential. Evidence of it 
comes from the creation, from the economy of na- 
ture, from the great events of the past, from indi- 
vidual experience, and from the Bible. All may 
have entered into the grand plan when first the 
creation was conceived, and may occur in accord- 
ance with that plan ; but the plan itself may have 
embraced eras which God predetermined for his 
own glory or our good to distinguish by extraordi- 
nary manifestations of His presence or His power, 
or may have contemplated events which were to 
be specially guided by His omnipotent hand. 

God's dealings with men cover three distinctly 
marked periods : first, that of Purity, before the 
Fall ; second, that of Promise, from the Fall to 
the coming of Christ ; third, that of Fulfilment, 
after the Resurrection. From both the nature and 
facts of the case, all these dealings resolve them- 
selves into one grand plan for the protection of man 
from evil before the Fall, and for his restoration to 
holiness after it. This plan was undoubtedly made 
in view of man's Free Agency, and of physical in- 
fluences, and, when well understood, harmonizes 
with them. Physical influences, indeed, must 
operate in entire subserviency to intellectual and 
moral influences — to the laws imposed upon them 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF. HISTORY. 445 

in the beginning ; and if a man may be able to 
attain virtue and yet be unwilling to make the effort, 
and God in pity present a stronger motive and thus 
aid him in making a right choice, and save him from 
destruction, does that conflict with Free Agency? 
It does not, for it leaves an open alternative ; and 
yet this is the simple mode in which God strives to 
save a lost world. 

It remains only to say that Bossuet was the first 
to apply the idea of an overruling Providence in the 
solution of the Problem of History. He did it 
ably and eloquently. Schlegel's " Philosophy of 
History" is the most profound work written from a 
similar standpoint. [N'early all the German writers 
on the subject recognize God in History; but most 
of them seem to think that the Philosophy of 
History has other objects than that w^hich Schlegel 
claims to be the chief one, " To point out histo- 
rically, in reference to the whole human race, and 
in outward conduct and experience of life, the pro- 
gress of the restoration in man of the lost image 
of God, in the various periods of the world." 

Admit the theory now stated, and does it take 
away all foundation for a science of History? Must 
the world be a chaos because God rules it ? By no 
means. God works in the light of absolute truth. 
The whole plan of the creation and the moral 
government of the world is consistent. The super- 
natural, no less than the natural, is subject to laws, 
but we can only catch glimpses of them. It is the 
fool that has said in his heart " there is no God." 

Sufficient has now been said to render the truth 

38 



446 IITSTEUCTlbN I^ HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

apparent that History results from the operation of 
three great causes : nature, man's Free Will, and 
God's Providence. These are the Historic factors. 
He who would construct a complete Philosophy of 
History must answer the following questions : "What 
is the amount of influence nature exerts upon man ? 
What is the amount of influence his own spiritual 
freedom exerts upon man ? What is the amount 
of influence God exerts upon man ? If he can fix 
the relative proportions of these influences in the 
events of History and harmonize them, his work 
is done. As History may be considered from these 
several standpoints, it is not to be wondered at that 
there have been propounded difl^erent Theories of 
the Philosophy of History. Each w^riter has some 
truth at the bottom of his system, but the whole of 
truth ascertained can only be known by a combina- 
tion of the truths of all systems. The facts pro- 
bably are that in the infancy of the race, physical 
causes had more influence upon man than when he 
advanced to higher stages of civilization, and God 
also presented himself in a more tangible form — 
w^alking and talking with men. But when nations 
emerged from ignorance, and reason mounted her 
throne and assumed her destined sway, nature suc- 
combed to a superior power, and God no longer 
reveals himself to the coarser senses, but only to 
the pure eye of faith. 

It is not my purpose to apply the Theory of the 
Philosophy of History now arrived at to the Facts 
of History. If it were necessary to do so in order 
to exhibit the nature of the .Theory now developed, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, 447 

it would not be very difficult to show that the three 
great Historic factors have each played an important 
part in the production of events like the downfall of 
the Roman Empire, the Crusades, the Reformation, 
the French Revolution, or the American Rebellion. 
I will only add that all the Facts of History to be 
understood, must be interpreted by the light of its 
Philosophy. 

Having indicated the nature of the Philosophy of 
History, a few sentences will suffice- to indicate the 
methods of teaching it. So far as the laws of His- 
tory can be inferred from observed facts, it is an 
Empirical Science and must be taught according to 
the principles of the Inductive Method. To the 
extent that it is dependent upon truths derived 
a priori, it is a Rational Science and can be taught 
only according to the principles of the Deductive 
Method. When the designs of God's Providential 
interpositions cannot be determined, they must be 
believed. Thus the study of History requires the 
most extensive observation of facts, the broadest 
generalizations, the deepest insight into truth, the 
most careful demonstrations, and the most exalted 
faith. Methods applicable to all other studies, are 
employed in a higher sense in this ; and, in addition, 
we are constantly reminded that human science has 
its limits, and that for light concerning the realm of 
pure truth beyond its ken, we must in this life trust 
to revelations from above. 

Let me conclude by indicating the great lessons 
of History. Three kinds of influence make up our 



448 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES. 

life ; that from nature, that from our own free 
spirits, and that from God. In their deep signifi- 
cance, they teach these lessons : Charity, Indepen- 
dence, and Humility. We find the follies, the faults, 
the wants and the woes of mankind much owino^ to 
nature and the circumstances of society — this excites 
our sympathy, and is designed to teach us Charity; 
we find motives within us which prompt us to act 
for ourselves — this is designed to teach us Indepen- 
dence; God in many ways makes us sensible of His 
overruling power and our weakness — and this is 
designed to teach us Humility. As now used. 
Charity is love to man ; Independence is a true 
sense of our own manhood ; and Humility is faithful 
obedience to God — equivalent to loving our neigh- 
bors as ourselves, respecting ourselves, and honor- 
ing God. 

Our charities are bestowed in proportion to the 
helplessness of the recipient. Our toleration for the 
erroneous opinions of others is in proportion to their 
responsibility for them. We do not hold the Heathen 
strictly accountable for the violation of Christian 
principles, nor do we much blame the people of 
Constantinople for being Mahometans. If we could 
be convinced that differences of opinion in regard 
to politics, philosophy, morals, religion, were wholly 
owing to differences of soil, food, climate, the general 
aspects of nature, or the general condition of society, 
strife and debate, party-hate, and party-warfare 
would mostly cease, and the nations would learn 
the lesson of Charity. 

To teach this lesson in this way, however, would 
necessitate the total annihilation of the distinction 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 449 

of right and wrong, and blot out forever self-con- 
sciousness and self-respect. We are governed by 
circumstances just so far as to form a social brother- 
hood, and to teafch wise men charity; and for the rest 
we are made to find within ourselves the reasons for 
our conduct, and to feel responsible for it. Man, 
relying upon himself, gathers facts from earth, and 
air, and heaven, and finds the laws that govern them ; 
he seizes the principles, his own reason furnishes and 
constructs systems of Philosophy; he produces — 
almost creates forms of beauty in the arts ; he estab- 
lishes governments, and when they fail to subserve 
his ends, he alters or abolishes them ; he casts oif 
the shackles of despotism and slavery, and be- 
comes a freeman ; he triumphs over his passions 
and rules himself, and thus he learns the lesson of 
Independence. 

But with this Independence, come bigotry, pride, 
obstinacy, pertinacity, dogmatism, tyranny. In 
their foolish reliance upon self, men become self- 
righteous like the Pharisees of old, and vainly expect 
to purchase Heaven with merit of their own. They 
eat of the tree of knowledge, and would be gods. 
Then God stretches forth His hand, and flaming 
swords guard the entrance to Paradise which man 
has forfeited by disobedience ; a flood cleanses the 
earth from wickedness ; fire and brimstone rain 
down upon the devoted cities of the plain ; Pharaoh's 
heart is hardened ; thunders burst out from Sinai; 
prophets whose lips had been touched with fire 
from Heaven warn the nations ; pomp and power 
are weighed in the balance and found wanting; 
men are afflicted, and, like Job, " abhor themselves, 

38* 



450 INSTRUCTION IX HISTOEICAL SCIENCES. 

and repent in dust and aslies ;" riclies take to them- 
selves wings and fly away ; and the rebellious are 
all brought down in heart, and cry upon the Lord 
in their troubles. In the fullness of time, the meek 
and lowly One appears and calls, " Come unto me, 
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest." Multitudes accept the call, and 
enter like little children into the. Heavenly King- 
dom ; and thus learn the lesson of Humility. 

All goes to show that Independence ennobles 
Charity, and Humility softens Independence ; and 
together they constitute the essentials of Manhood. 
We may now pluck the fruitage of all History: 
Peace on Earth, Liberty to Man, and Glory to 
God. 



CHAPTER YII. 

INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

All schools should impart instruction in Writing ^ 
Drawing^ and Vocal Music, and methods of teaching 
these School-Arts Avill he presented here in some 
detail ; after which a few general observations will 
be made concerning Instruction in the Arts in G-eneral, 
This order is the reverse of that followed in the pre- 
ceding Chapters, and places the particular before the 
general; but by so doing, while care is taken that 
nothing shall be lost in perspicuity, something will 
be gained in symmetry to the book as a whole. 

I, Writing. 

Writing is the art of making letters and combining 
them in words. The instrument used for this pur- 
pose at the present time is called a pen or pencil ; 
in ancient times it was called a reed or style. The 
characters used in writing and printing are un- 
doubtedly modifications of the same forms. 

It is hardly necessary to say that Writing is a 
useful art. It seems indispensable in transacting 
the complicated affairs of modern society. 

In learning to write, two objects must be kept in 
view : first, to make the writing legible ; second, to 
make it beautiful. Without the attainment of the 
first object, Writing would be of no use, and with- 

(451) 



452 INSTRUCTION- IN THE ARTS. 

out the attainment of the second it could never 
gratify the taste. 
■ Writing is partly a mental, and partly a mechan- 
ical operation. As a mental operation, it consists 
in conceiving the forms of the letters, and, as a me- 
chanical operation, it consists in executing those 
forms. It seems evident, therefore, that lessons in 
Writing are divisible into two classes : those which 
are designed to teach the conception of the forms of 
the letters, and those which are designed to give 
culture to the muscles used in Writing. 

1. Lessons designed to teach the Conception op 
THE Forms of the Letters. — Li art, the ideal pre- 
cedes the real ; the conception of form precedes its 
execution. Painters place their mental pictures 
upon canvas, sculptors realize them in marble, and 
architects express them in wood and stone. With 
an imperfect ideal, its realization must be corres- 
pondingly imperfect. All this applies to Writing as 
to other arts, and a teacher of Writing should have 
lessons calculated to impress upon his pupils' minds 
the most correct and beautiful forms of the letters. 

Some lessons on Form in general may be made 
valuable auxiliaries to this end. 

Young children may be amused and instructed 
with blocks of different shapes and sizes, out of 
which buildings and articles of furniture may be 
made ; blocks cut into sections which can be formed 
into various fissures ; and dias^rams and blocks 
representing the figures and bodies used in Mathe- 
matics. Ko article of apparatus can be used more 
advantageously in giving lessons in Form than the 



WRITING. 453 

Chinese Puzzle. It consists of eiglit pieces pecu- 
liarly shaped. The pieces may be so arranged as to 
form a square, a triangle, a parallelogram, and hun- 
dreds of other figures. A book accompanies the 
pieces containing diagrams of the figures to be 
formed, but not indicating the positions of the 
pieces ; and the problems consist in having certain 
figures given, to find the position of the pieces in 
forming them. 

Lessons requiring the discrimination of the forms 
of natural objects, such as leaves, crystals, fruits, 
&c. ; make more vivid the impressions of form. 

Some teachers have placed boxes of sand before 
their pupils and required them to make various 
figures in the sand, and others have exercised them 
in tracing figures in the air with rods. 

The experience of many good teachers seems to 
prove that pupils should receive instruction in the 
elements of Drawing before they begin to write, and 
that such lessons are better calculated than any 
others to aid the pupil in attaining the power of 
conceiving forms correctly. 

To impress upon the minds of pupils the particular 
forms used in Writing, the following exercises will 
be found valuable : 

The letters which have in script the simplest form, 
such as «, n, u, should first be presented to the 
pupils. These the teacher should make upon the 
blackboard. He should make them as neatly as pos- 
sible, and impress their correct form upon the minds 
of the class by exhibiting the common departures 
from it. Each lesson should include but a few 
letters, as this renders the discussion of their pecu- 



45-i INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

liarities and the manner of making them more likely 
to be remembered. 

After such an exercise as the preceding, the work 
of analyzing the letters may commence. Pupils 
can be readily led to see that the right line or 
*' stroke" /, enters as an element into a number of 
characters, and so of the oval 0^ the hook 2? the 
loop /, &c. ; and they will therefore take more inter- 
est in imitating them. A detailed analysis of the 
letters will not be attempted here ; but it may be 
found upon reference to works on Penmanship that 
all the letters, both the small letters and the capitals, 
can be reduced to a very few simple elements. All 
that it is necessary to say now is that these elements 
must be exhibited to learners, they must be required 
to imitate them, and to embody them in letters and 
words. The making of letters and words should 
not be postponed until the whole analysis of the 
letters has been completed and the elements care- 
fully practiced ; but as soon as the elements com- 
posing a letter, or the letters composing a word, 
have been mastered, the pupil should be allowed 
to write them. Let it be remembered that one 
step must be taken at a time, that the pupils should 
commence with the simplest forms and become 
thoroughly acquainted with these before advancing 
to those more difficult, and that a correct knowledge 
of forms must precede a correct execution of them. 

Not only is it important to impress upon the 
learner the correct forms of letters, but he must 
also be taught to give them the proper inclination, 
and arrange correctly the distances between them. 
In addition to the directions of the teacher and the 



WRITING. 455 

model for imitation which the learner must have 
constantly before him, it might be well to use at 
first a cop3^-book so ruled as to indicate the length 
of the letters, their inclination, and spacing. 

Some teachers have found much advantage in re- 
quiring pupils to "trace the letters." This tracing 
of the letters consists in following a model with the 
pen held above it or slightly upon it. Drawing 
the letters on slates or blackboards is an excellent 
exercise. 

2. Lessoxs designed to give Culture to the 
Muscles used in Writing. — Certain muscles have 
to be trained in learning to sew, paint, play the 
piano ; and such is also the case in learning to 
write. 'No one can make a more beautiful picture 
of a letter than that which he has in his mind ; and 
he requires well trained muscles who can expect 
to make any close approximation to it. A good 
writer always has complete command of the mus- 
cles he calls into requisition. A teacher of writing 
must therefore so direct his instruction as to secure 
this end. 

Some discipline of the muscles used in writing is 
obtained by a child who merely marks with his 
pencil upon a slate, or with a piece of chalk upon 
a blackboard; and, on the whole, I consider such 
exercises an advantage to the pupil in learning to 
write, although he may not hold the pencil or crayon 
as a pen should be held. A few days of patient 
training when he begins to write with a pen, will 
accustom the pupil to hold it correctly. 

No better discipline of the muscles used in writing 



456 INSTRUCTION IX THE AETS. 

can be had than that which is furnished by per- 
forming elementary Drawing-exercises. Close obser- 
vers have remarked that pupils generally write best 
who have been taught to draw. Horace Mann in 
reporting upon his visit to the schools in different 
parts of Europe mentions this fact. 

Works on Penmanship often contain special ex- 
ercises designed for training the muscles of the arm 
and fingers. Such exercises are very valuable. 
ISTo description of them is necessary here ; but it 
might be remarked that they should be well graded, 
and that teaching should commence with the 
simplest. 

Tracing the letters as noticed upon a preceding 
page is useful not only in aiding the pupil to con- 
ceive the correct forms of letters, but also in train- 
ing the muscles in executing these forms. 

Some additional suggestions are deemed appro- 
priate : 

Apart from the general exercises calculated to aid 
the pupils in conceiving the forms of letters or in 
getting command of the muscles used in making 
them, a recitation in Writing will consist mainly 
in calling the attention of the class to the forms 
of letters composing the lesson, describing these 
forms, analj^zing them, showing how they ought to 
be made, and then requiring the models given to be 
carefully imitated. 

Much the best copies for imitation are those which 
are arranged on loose slips. Copy-books with 
engraved head-lines may not suit the circumstances 
of the class. They may advance from easy lessons 



WRITING. 457 

to those which are difficult, too fast or too slowly. 
Besides, in using them, pupils are apt, after writing 
two or three lines, to forget to look at the head- 
line; whereas, slips can be readily moved down 
the copy as the pupil proceeds with his work. It 
is an advantage many times, also, for the pupils to 
rewrite their lessons. If a teacher has ample time, 
writes a suitable hand, and has a prospect of remain- 
ing a long time in one school, it may be well for 
him to " set the copies" or write the models himself; 
but as these contingencies seldom exist, it is better 
for teachers generally to adopt some good system 
of Penmanship and follow it. Under the most 
favorable circumstances, pupils might take more 
interest in copying a teacher's hand- writing than 
in imitating models ; but pupils often loose so much 
by being required to imitate the ungraceful char- 
acters made by poor pensmen, and by being com- 
pelled to change their hand-writing with every 
change of teachers, that it is time this practice of 
" setting copies" should be abandoned. A system 
of Penmanship adopted and a set of models chosen, 
the teacher must conform his instruction to it. This 
is very essential to success. The first lessons for 
children should consist of elements, letters, or words 
written in a clear, neat, and plain hand. The 
general length of the letters should be for first les- 
sons about a quarter of an inch ; but after some 
practice, pupils may be allowed to write both large 
and small hand. 

In forming his style, the pupil ought to have the 
model constantly before him; but the manner of 
making the letters must become so familiar that 

39 



458 INSTKUCTION" IN THE AETS. 

he can preserve the same style m writing dictated 
copies without a model. Teachers will do well to 
require the pupil to observe in all his writing the 
directions given in the writing-class. Without such 
attention, pupils can never become habituated to 
the use of a uniform and correct style of writing. 

There is the same reason for classification in writ- 
ing as in other studies ; and in conducting a recita- 
tion, much loss of time is avoided by introducing 
it, with such illustrations upon the blackboard as 
the lesson may require, and, in the same manner, 
during its continuance, exhibiting the errors made 
by the pupils in their work. If the blackboards are 
good, the pupils themselves may use them to great 
advantage in learning to write. All the pupils in a 
class should practice the same lessons at the same 
time. 

I^othing need be said here concerning the kind of 
desks or tables best adapted for the purposes of 
writing, or of the manner of sitting and holding 
the pen, or of moving the fingers or arm, as all this 
is sufiiciently discussed in works on Penmanship. 

It is very important that the errors pupils make 
in their writing should be corrected. The best way 
to do this, probably, is for the teacher to pass to 
each pupil while engaged at his work, call his 
attention to his errors, and make such suggestions 
to him as seem necessary. The teacher may correct 
general errors by showing in what they consist upon 
the blackboard. Two or three critics may be ap- 
pointed every day from among the members of the 
class to examine the copies and report the errors, or 
the copies^may be exchanged for this purpose.^ 



DRAWIN-G. 459 

n. Drawing. 

Drawing is the art of representing objects by 
means of lines and shades. Like writing, Drawing 
is partly a mental and partly a mechanical operation. 
One who draws must first; conceive objects, and 
afterwards represent them. Drawing, however, 
aims to represent all objects, while writing is con- 
fined to the representation of a particular class of 
objects; and, in the case of Drawing, the objects 
are mostly concrete, while in writing they are 
always abstract. 

As drawing is not generally taught in our Com- 
mon Schools, some of the advantages of skill in 
this branch of study may be pointed out. 

Skill in Drawing aids very much in learning and 
reciting other studies. Maps should be drawn in 
Geography ; diagrams, in Mathematics ; and plants 
and animals should be represented in the IN'atural 
Sciences. Elementary Drawing-exercises form a 
very good introduction to writing. Indeed, there is 
scarcely any study in which skill in Drawing may 
not be turned to good account. Skill in Drawing is 
indispensable in some kinds of business. It is so to 
the engineer, architect, and machinist. It is almost 
equally so to the farmer, the miner, the teacher, and 
the physician. There is no position or kind of 
business in which an individual might not find an 
opportunity to make an advantageous use of skill in 
Drawing. To draw well one must observe closely, 
and this gives valuable discipline to the senses and 
the perceptive faculties. Drawing is the language 
of the eye, and it often enables us to communicate 
what could not well be stated in words. A person 



460 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

desiring to have a new building erected or pleasure- 
grounds laid out, can communicate to liis work- 
men more knowledge in a few minutes by draw- 
ing his plans, than he could by long hours of verbal 
explanation. So a traveller in a strange country 
can ofttimes convey more true knowledge by a 
rough sketch of some remarkable object in nature 
or art, than he could do by a labored description. 
In its higher departments. Drawing is well calcu- 
lated to awaken the mind to the perception of new 
beauties, as it requires a careful study of nature; 
and when it rises from the sphere of an imitative 
art to that of a creative art, no other study can 
furnish higher or better culture for the judgment, 
the imagination, and the taste. 

"While it is agreed on all hands that children may 
begin to learn to draw when quite young — before 
they commence learning to write, teachers of Draw- 
ing difi'er very much as to the best method of in- 
structing them. But although almost every system 
of Drawing differs in some of its details from all 
other systems, all of them may be arranged into two 
classes ; and there are, therefore, two methods of 
teaching Drawing. The first commences with a 
straight line, as the simplest element used in Draw- 
ing, and may be called the Abstract Method; the 
second commences with objects, or the pictures of 
objects, and may be called the Concrete Method. 

1. The Abstract Method. — All objects that 
can be represented by drawing them are either 
bounded by straight or curved lines. The simplest 
of the two kinds of lines is the straight line ; and, 



DRAWING. 461 

hence, many teachers of Drawing commence their 
instruction with exercises on the straight line. Be- 
fore the pupils commence their lessons, however, it 
might be well for the teacher to draw the outlines of 
several objects bounded by straight lines, upon the 
blackboard, and have them notice the kind of lines 
of which they are composed, and the manner in 
which one line is added to another to build them up. 
In short, pupils may be led to see by such an 
analysis, the purpose for which they are required to 
make lines, and why they should make them cor- 
rectly. The best way of developing this method of 
teaching Drawing is by presenting brief descriptions 
of a series of exercises. 

First Class of Exercises. — /Straight Lines. — 
These lines maybe made of diiFerent lengths; they 
may be made perpendicular, horizontal, or inclined 
at diiFerent angles ; they may converge, diverge, or 
run parallel; or they may be bisected, trisected, or 
divided into any required number of parts. 

Secoxd Class of Exercises. — Combinations of two 
Straight Lines. — These combinations will be better 
understood by examples than by descriptions : 



J I ^IT+XH MNl/ 



X 



\ 

Such examples as these may be duplicated as 
follows : 



LJXT+:^^ 



o'J 



462 INSTRUCTION. IN THE ARTS. 

Thihd Class of Exercises. — Comhinations of three 
Straight Lines. — The following figures are examples 
of this kind of combinations : 



±=FTT/^^ 



Fourth Class of Exercises. — Comhinations of 
more than three Straight Lines. — Under this class 
there may he included all triangles divided hy a 
single straight line, squares, rectangles, rhomhs, 
trapeziums, all kinds of polygons, and an immense 
number of other figures that can be made to furnish 
a great variety of lessons. 

Fifth Class of Exercises. — The Imitation of real 
Objects hounded hy Straight Lines. — This class of ex- 
ercises is intended to give pupils practice in imita- 
ting the pictures of real objects bounded by straight 
lines. Among the thousands of objects suitable for 
the purpose, the following may be named as ex- 
amples : boxes, books, blocks, posts, milestones, 
stools, tables, stars, crosses, doors, windows, houses, 
castles, &c. 

Sixth Class of Exercises. — The Invention of 
Figures hounded hy Straight Lines. — Drawing is not 
only an imitative but a creative art, and pupils 
should have practice in inventing figures. The 
teacher may first exhibit a few original designs upon 
the blackboard. From this the pupils will under- 
stand what is wanted; and if there is not soon an 
interested class, and eventually some fine w^ork done 
by it, it will be contrary to my experience. Such 





DRAWING. 463 

problems may be assigned as follows : given three, 
four, five, or any number of straight lines, to form 
a design of them ; given a figure, a triangle, a square, 
or a parallelogram, to combine with straight lines ; 
given one figure to combine with another; as tri- 
angle with triangle, triangle with square ; squares, 
stars, hexagons, with one another. 

Seventh Class of Exercises. — Curved Lines. — 
A few simple curves may be presented as examples : 



Eighth Class of Exercises. — Combinations of 
Curved and Straight Lines. — Examples of such com- 
binations may be found in sections of circles, sec- 
tions of ellipses, cones, cylinders, many of the 
letters of the Alphabet, and thousands of objects. 

I^iNTH Class of Exercises. — The Invention of 
Figures bounded by Curved or Curved and Straight 
Lines. — This class of exercises opens a wide field for 
the display of ingenuity and taste. 

After sufiS-cient practice has been allowed in the 
preceding exercises, pupils may receive lessons in 
Shading and Perspective, but such remarks as I 
have to make concerning the methods of imparting 
such lessons will be postponed until something has 
been said of the second general method of teaching 
Drawing. 

2. The Concrete Method. — The concrete is the 



4G4: INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

most effective form in which, knowleds^e can be 
communicated to children. We have found that 
lessons on objects should precede all other kinds of 
instruction ;- and it is very natural that children 
should take most interest in drawing the objects 
about w^hich they are otherwise learning something. 
Any teacher can try the experiment for himself, and 
he will find that while children will be delighted to 
spend hours every day in trying to draw blocks, 
posts, houses, cats, or cows, they will soon grow 
tired of making lines, triangles, or circles. ]N"ature 
thus indicates that the first lessons in Drawing 
should be in a concrete form. What if it be said 
that objects are not as simple as lines, or that it is 
impossible for a child to draw them correctly, the 
answer is ready, that in this way they learn every- 
thing else. Children do not first learn the elements 
but the wholes of things. Let them commence 
learning to draw as they commence learning other 
things, and it will be found that what is natural is 
the most efiective. Children will even spend much 
time in "playing Drawing," if provided with proper 
materials. It is, doubtless, proper that pupils some- 
what advanced should anal^^ze figures, and com- 
mence with straight lines ; but I am here speaking 
of instruction to beginners. 

As with the Abstract method, the spirit of the 
Concrete method can be best appreciated from a 
series of exercises. 

First Class of Exercises. — The Pictures of Ob- 
jects. — It is more easy, and, I think, more interest- 
ing, for children to draw the pictures of objects than 



DRAWING. 465 

the objects themselves. The first lessons should 
consist of the outlines of the simplest objects, such 
as boxes, books, posts, gates, doors, houses, &c. ; 
but, although more difficult, no harm can result 
from suffering children to attempt to draw cats, 
horses, fowls, dogs, human figures, &c. 

Second Class of Exercises. — Drawing the Pictures 
of Objects from Memory. — In the preceding class of 
exercises, it is presumed that the pupils have books 
or cards from which they copy the pictures. This 
done, it will be found of great advantage to repro- 
duce them from memory. Drawing pictures from 
memory is more difficult than copying pictures; 
but its disciplinary advantages are proportionably 
greater. 

Third Class of Exercises. — Drawing real Objects. 
— Having copied the picture of an object, and re- 
produced it from memory, the pupil is well prepared 
to draw the object itself. For this purpose schools 
should be furnished with sets of model-objects, cor- 
responding to the pictures upon the*drawing-cards, 
or in the drawing-books. In the absence of these, 
however, the teacher need be at little loss to find 
things suitable for lessons with the world full of 
objects about him. 

Fourth Class of Exercises. — Inventive drawing, 
— To succeed in the higher departments of Inventive 
Drawing, requires a highly cultured imagination, 
and a correct taste; but even children may be 
taught to draw objects and combinations of objects 



4,6Q INSTRUCTION" IN THE AET3. 

that are not copies of anything they have ever seen, 
and even to design the simplest kinds of monaments, 
gates, pleasure-grounds, landscapes, houses, &c. In- 
deed, this kind of work is done by children who 
have been well taught, with intense interest; and 
nothing can be better calculated to cultivate in- 
genuity, or give opportunity of growth to the bud- 
dino^ imao^ination. 

These four classes of exercises indicate all that is 
peculiar to this method. The method is particularly 
adapted to childi-en, and aims only to communicate 
a popular knowledge of the art of Drawing. Pupils 
receiving instruction in Drawing up to the point 
indicated in the preceding exercises, according to 
this method, can enter upon the analysis of forms 
and their composition, as contemplated in the Ab- 
stract Method, with great profit. Thus here, as 
everywhere else, principles will be found to under- 
lie appearances. The Concrete Method merely con- 
templates the imitation of appearances, while the 
Abstract Method contemplates, in addition, the 
study of principles. With pupils who are prepared 
for it, the two methods may be combined. 

The time is now come when something must be 
said of Shading, Shadow, and Perspective. 

Pupils will readily appreciate the effect of Shad- 
ing if the teacher first draw the outline of a simple 
object, and then shade it. They may then engage 
in imitating the Shading of pictures, and, finally, 
practice the Shading of real objects. Much may be 
done in this way, according to the Concrete Method, 



DRAWING. 467 

to improve the pupil's taste and increase his skill, 
before he could learn the l-aws of Optics upon which 
the distribution of light depends. When the time 
comes for learning these laws, they must be learned 
and applied after the spirit of the Abstract Method, 
by commencing with the simplest and proceeding 
to the more difficult. 

What has been said of Shading applies equally 
well to Shadow. 

Distant objects do not appear to the eye under 
the same angle as near ones, and as Drawing must 
be true to nature, objects should be represented as 
they appear. Hence the necessity of Perspective 
in Drawing. Some idea of the nature of Perspec- 
tive can.be imparted to learners by calling their 
attention to the appearance of a long street, bridge, 
or hall, trees planted on each side of an avenue, or a 
railroad track. Illustrations of Perspective Drawing 
should be given by the teacher upon the blackboard. 
The pupils must be required to imitate a progressive 
series of models. It is all important to train the 
eye to judge accurately of Perspective, as it is im- 
possible to take time to apply particularly all the 
laws of Perspective in drawing an object. Euskin 
and other celebrated artists confirm this view. 
When the pupil is prepared for it, however, he 
should be made acquainted with these laws, and 
learn to demonstrate their truth. 

It is only necessary to say further in regard to 
methods of teaching Drawing that, as in writing, 
they must have reference to the training of the 
muscles employed as well as to the conception of 
form. As in writing, too, the pupils should be 



468 ' INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

taught in classes ; the blackboard should be in 
constant use both by the teacher and pupils ; good 
models should be at hand for imitation; conve- 
nient tables and seats, and suitable apparatus, should 
be provided ; and great care should be taken in the 
correction of errors. 

m. Vocal Music. 

Vocal Music, when rightly considered, is linguistic 
in its nature, and closely related to Reading. The 
principal points of resemblance between them are 
that the words used in Yocal Music, as in Reading, 
are required to be correctly pronounced, and pro- 
perly appreciated both in respect to thought and 
feeling; that while Speech is more the language 
of the intellect, and Song exclusively the language 
of the feelings, both are used for the purposes of 
communication by all races and conditions of men. 
The affinity of Speech and Song is so close, that 
they are sometimes combined in a kind of compo- 
sition called Recitative. The most marked differ- 
ences between Reading and Singing are that hi 
Reading the common sounds of the voice are used, 
while in Singing these sounds are modified and 
receive the name of tones ; that '^ no idea, thought, 
term, proposition, or meaning, is directly conveyed 
in Song;" and that Speech has no fixed clef for 
comparing one note with another, and can, therefore, 
neither give pleasure by presenting a melodious 
succession of notes, nor by observing their harmo- 
nious relationships. 

The Study of Yocal Music is too much neglected, 
and it will not therefore be amiss to state some of 



VOCAL MUSIC. 469 

the advantages which may be expected to result 
from its more general introduction into our schools. 

Music gives pleasant employment during leisure 
hours. There are times of leisure in every family 
— evenings, Saturday afternoons, . Sabbaths, and 
these seasons can be made to yield more true eujoy- 
ment if enlivened with or improved by appropriate 
Music. He who is fond of Music need never suffer 
from ennui, for he has a constant source of the 
purest pleasure within himself Besides, tempta- 
tions come to the young, especially to young men, 
during hours in which they are not employed. It 
is then that the dull family fireside is deserted for 
the enjoyments of the tavern, the theatre, the club- 
room, or the street-corner, vice presents her allure- 
ments, the unsuspecting are enticed into her toils, 
and thousands fall. Home should be made more 
attractive, and nothing is better calculated to give 
it charms than Music. 

Music increases social pleasures. It has just been 
Baid that Music adds attraction to the circle of the 
family ; it is now asserted that this is true with 
respect to larger circles of friends wherever they 
may meet. Rude choruses are heard in the rough 
cabins of wild savages, and grand concerts make 
echo the walls of great halls in civilized cities. 
Peasants sing in their cottages on festive occasions, 
and Music graces the banquets of kings in their 
palaces. The social party is comparatively dull 
unless enlivened by the influences of song. *' The 
most joyous of joys is Music." ' 

Music cheers men on in the performance of duty. 
The mother soothes her sick child with Music; with 

40 



470 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

Music the laborer lightens his toil ; with Music our 
thoughts are turned heavenward in the house of 
God, and to the sounds of Music patriot soldiers 
march to battle. True, Music lends its attractions to 
the theatre ; Music is employed to charm the ear, 
while the soul is led captive by the allurements of 
wine, cards, or other forms of wickedness ; but this 
is a monstrous perversion of one of the most beauti- 
ful and excellent gifts of God. 

Music purifies the taste. The taste is purified by 
contact with what is beautiful. It cannot be doubted 
that there is beauty in Music, and hence if the 
young be made to appreciate it, the rougher parts 
of their nature would be refined, their wilder pas- 
sions would be calmed, and their tastes would revolt 
at what is low and degrading, and long for a uni- 
versal harmony that would embrace both the world 
of matter and the world of spirit. 

Music promotes good morals. It does this by 
furnishing employment for leisure hours, by in- 
creasing the pleasures of social life, by cheering 
men on in the performance of duty, and by purify- 
ing the taste. In addition to all this, the natural 
tendency of Music is to enrich and ennoble the whole 
emotional life. From a love of the beautiful, it is 
not difiicult to attain to a love of the true and the 
good. There is something very much like Music 
in loving our neighbors as ourselves. The " Uni- 
versal Harmony" of Pythagoras w^as more than the 
dream of an enthusiast ; it was the vision of a phi- 
losopher. This position is taken in full view of the 
fact that vulgar and profane thoughts are sometimes 
expressed in song, and that vice often makes use of 



VOCAL MUSIC. 471 

Music to gild her deformities. But sucti perversions 
are not the misfortune of Music alone. The other 
Fine Arts, speech, the sacred rites of religion itself, 
have been forced into the service of sin. 

Music induces a spirit of devotion. The Bible 
contains ample evidence that blessed spirits and 
angels chant their choruses around the throne of 
God ; St. Paul commands the Colossians to teach 
and admonish one another in psalms, and hymns, 
and spiritual songs ; and during the whole past 
history of the Church, since the children of Israel 
sang unto the Lord on the banks of the Red Sea, 
until the present. Music has been employed for the 
highest and holiest purposes. 

All these uses are general; Music is specially 
valuable in school, both in relieving the tedium of 
study and in promoting good order. Its influence 
upon a school, when well directed, is valuable phy- 
sically, ^sthetically, socially, morally, and reli- 
giously. 

Poetry is the beautiful as expressed in rhythmical 
words. Music is the beautiful as expressed in 
measured tones. Such words uttered in such tones 
constitute Yocal Music, or Song. 

Apart from the Pronunciation of words and the 
appreciation of the thought and feeling of discourse, 
both alread}^ treated of, methods of teaching Yocal 
Music as designed to be discussed here, embrace : 
first, the Training of the Vocal Organs ; second, the 
Culture of the Musical Taste ; and, third, Musical 
Execution. 

1. The Training of the Vocal Organs. — Music 



472 INSTRUCTION IN" THE ARTS. 

like Reading is a vocal art, and the voice has the 
same general capabilities in both. Music as a vocal 
art concerns the Quality, Compass, Movement, and 
Quantity of the voice. By the Qualities of the 
voice are meant its tones ; but since tones form the 
bases of Musical composition, their utterance bears 
the same relation to Vocal Music that the Pronun- 
ciation of words does to Reading. Hence the Qua- 
lity of the voice comes first in order, and vocal 
training with respect to music may be considered 
under the following heads : 

1st. The qualities of the voice, or Tones. 

2d. The height or lowness of tones, or Melody. 

3d. The length or shortness of tones, or Rhythm. 

4th. The loudness or softness of tones, or Dynamics. 

Harmony, including both the perception of simul- 
taneous, concordant tones, and a knowledge of the 
laws which govern them, is purely a product of the 
intellect, and not of the voice. 

Having very little practical knowledge of Vocal 
Music, it is right to say that what follows is mainly 
the result of theory, and of observations upon the 
teaching of others. 

Elementary Music books are very full of well- 
arranged exercises intended to be used in training 
the voice to sing, and it is not deemed necessary to 
attempt to give here detailed descriptions of them. 
My end will be gained if I succeed in announcing 
some general principles that will be of advantage 
in guiding the teacher in the use of such books. 



VOCAL MUSIC. 473 

1. Teachers of Vocal Music should he careful to secure 
those Qualities of Voice which enable the Pupil to utter 
Tones correctly/. — Some persons are naturally en- 
dowed with voices which render it easy for them to 
learn to sing ; but there are others who have voices 
so defective that they can scarcely utter, without 
training, the simplest tones. If a teacher find among 
his pupils those who have rough, shrill, harsh, nasal, 
or weak voices, or voices otherwise incapable of 
uttering pure tones, he must, by Physiological 
means, do what he can to correct them, before much 
progress is possible in learning to sing. Pupils 
with defective voices must be brought to perceive 
their defects, good models must be presented to 
them for imitation, and they must be made to engage 
in vocal exercises calculated to impart the needed 
culture. In many cases it may be suificient to con- 
nect practice in uttering simple tones with practice 
in Pitch, Time, and Force. 

2. Teachers of Vocal Music should exhibit Blusical 
Sounds to their Pupils before requiring them to commit 
their Names. — Tones should be uttered by the 
teacher in all their varieties, high and low, long and 
short, loud and soft, and the pupils be engaged in 
distinguishing them as uttered, and in uttering 
them themselves, before they^receive names. Things 
naturally precede words. A child learns to speak 
by imitating the sounds he hears ; and so a child 
must hear tones before he can imitate them, or form 
any idea as to what their names signify. The same 
gradual progress from the easy to the difficult must 
be made here as in other studies. The teacher 

40* 



474 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

must first give the simplest tones, require his pupils 
to imitate them, and learn their names ; and then 
proceed in the same way to dispose of those more 
difficult. 

3. Teachers of Vocal Music should acquaint their 
Pupils ivith Musical Sounds before they require them to 
learn the Musical Notation. — Children are often taught 
the symbols used in musical notation before they have 
any true conception of the thing signified by them. 
They are expected to sing by note before they can 
sing by air. This is as great a mistake as to attempt 
to teach a child to read before he can speak. The 
difficulty learners have in reading Music, probably 
arises to some extent from this fault, It cannot be 
doubted, however, that musical notation properly 
used is of great advantage to the learner as it repre- 
sents to the eye and fixes in the mind the more 
easily-forgotten conceptions that are formed through 
the ear. 

4. Teachers of Vocal Music should begin their course 
of Instruction to Children by teaching them Little Songs 
and Hymns. — Vocal Music is no exception to the 
principle that the concrete is the most efiective form 
in w^hich elementary instruction can be given. l!^o 
great profit can arise from requiring children to 
begin a course of systematic instruction in Vocal 
Music before they are ten years of age. Indeed, 
if great care is not taken to confine them, even at 
that age, to such exercises as w^ill not overstrain 
their vocal organs, much injury may be done them. 
But a child can begin to learn to sing as soon as he 



VOCAL MUSIC. 475 

can talk. From tliis time on, both parent and 
teacher must furnish him with opportunity to sing 
and give all needful help. Up to the age of ten 
years, therefore, the instruction of a child in Vocal 
Music should consist in teaching him to sing by air 
suitable songs and hymns. Our language contains 
some such musical compositions. The common 
rhymes of the nursery are better than nothing, 
though they are susceptible of great improvement. 
So well convinced am I of the intellectual and moral 
benefits which might be derived from this form of 
instruction, that I do not hesitate to say that this 
age could produce no greater benefactor to the race 
than he would be who could succeed in placing a 
collection of songs and hymns, adapted to the capa- 
cities and tastes of children, within the reach of 
every family and primary school in the land. 

5. For Pupils from the age of ten to fourteen, Teachers 
of Vocal Music should have two independent courses 
of Instruction : one intended to give practice in Sing- 
ing, and the other to impart Systematic Vocal Culture. 
— If a teacher could find suitable songs corres- 
ponding to abstract vocal exercises and in which 
these exercises could be applied, it would be well 
to combine the two courses from the beginning; 
but it is presumed that this is impracticable ; and, 
since neither can be omitted without harm, instruc- 
tion in both may proceed independently. By two 
independent courses of instruction, it is not meant 
that the singing and the vocal training should have 
no relation to each other ; but the design is to allow 
the teacher to select a number of songs to be sung, 



476 INSTEUCTION IN THE AKTS. 

and a series of vocal exercises to be practiced, with- 
out necessarily adapting the former to the latter. 
Both kinds of instruction may be combined in the 
same recitation. 

From the age of fourteen, pupils may be taught 
to apply the disciplinary vocal exercises in songs. 
At this age, both kinds of exercises can be made 
mutually illustrative. A song can be sung, and the 
pupils can be required to write the music ; or they 
can be asked to find words suited to music already 
written. 

6. Teachers of Vocal Music sJiouId be careful to adapt 
their Musical Exercises to the Vocal Powers of their 
Pupils. — It is a well-known Physiological law that 
the human muscles are weakened by either too 
much or too little exercise. This law must be 
observed in training the vocal organs. It is equally 
well known that muscular strength can be imparted 
only by the patient application of a well-graded, 
progressive series of exercises. Children's voices, 
too, are more limited in Pitch and Force than are 
those of older persons, and any vocal training con- 
ducted without regard to this fact will be hurtful. 

7. Teachers of Vocal 3Iusic should make their instruc- 
tion very exact and thorough. — Exactness and thorough- 
ness should be a characteristic of all teaching ; but 
there is a special reason for it in a study like Music. 
The misstatement of a fact or the misunderstanding 
of a principle can be readily corrected ; but pupils 
whose taste is vitiated by listening to unmusical 
sounds or whose vocal organs are habituated to the 



VOCAL MUSIC. 477 

utterance of them, can scarcely be expected to over- 
come faults thus produced. The very essence of 
Music is order among sounds ; and lessons in Music 
should be so well adapted to the capacity of pupils, 
so carefully graded, and so thoroughly taught that 
pupils may have constantly before them an ideal, 
approximating as nearly as possible to perfection. 

Yocal exercises are made more effective if an in- 
strument be played in connection with them as an 
accompaniment. The instrument guides the voice. 
Practice in composing musical exercises is very ad- 
vantageous. Pupils can commence the composition 
of simple pieces very early in their course, and such 
instruction should be continued as a necessary part 
of musical instruction. Each pupil in a Yocal 
Music class should be taught to sing by himself as 
well as in concert with others. There is no better 
reason why pupils should be relieved from personal 
responsibility in reciting a lesson in Yocal Music 
than in reciting a lesson in any other study. 

2. The Culture or Musical Taste. — By musical 
taste is meant the power by which we perceive and 
appreciate what is beautiful in tone. It is the men- 
tal part of Music, and includes both an intellectual 
and an emotional element. A person may possess 
a voice capable of uttering tones in all the varieties 
of Pitch, Time, and Force, and yet be a very un- 
skilful musician. The voice is merely an instru- 
ment used to express in tones, the thought and sen- 
timent which have their birth in the soul. Skill in 
Yocal Music requires not only the perception and 



478 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

appreciation of the beautiful as expressed in tones, 
but also as expressed in words. 

The teacher of Yocal Music must give culture to 
the musical taste. Every individual has likes and 
dislikes, meets with some objects which are agree- 
able and with others which are disagreeable, notices 
what he conceives to be beauties and deformities. 
The power of discriminating between what pleases 
and what displeases is taste — a power universally 
possessed by men. Taste differs among individuals 
and among nations. Rude, ignorant people have 
very different tastes from those who are refined and 
educated. The laws of taste are the generalizations 
of what has been found agreeable to such persons as 
by nature and by education are most competent to 
form correct judgments. The idea of the beautiful 
is a projection from within, and not an ioduction 
from without. Upon occasions given, we express 
our likes and dislikes ; and these, when expressed 
by the best critics, constitute the laws of taste. 

The teacher will find his pupils in possession of 
some degree of taste ; our query is how to purity 
and elevate it ? 

Taste in all the Fine Arts is improved by furnish- 
ing fit occasions for its exercise. In abstract Vocal 
Music, these occasions may be found at every step 
of the pupil's progress. All true Music is beautiful, 
from the simple chord to that complicated contrast- 
ing and blending of tones which characterizes the 
compositions of the masters of the art. In concrete 
Vocal Music, these occasions may be found in the 
songs they sing. These should be rich in beautiful 
and noble sentiments. Children should sing of 



VOCAL MUSIC. 479 

home, of country, of truth, of liberty, of love, of 
Heaven, of God. The songs of a people have much 
to do with their character. I can think of no better 
way of filling the heart of a child with high and 
noble aspirations than by teaching him to sing beau- 
tiful songs and hymns. 

It must be remembered, however, that all Music, 
whether abstract or concrete, must be adapted to 
the capacities of the pupils for whom it is intended, 
or they can see no beauty in it. Music has its sim- 
ple, surface beauties, and those which are complex 
and hidden — beauties which delight the unthinking- 
fancy, and beauties which only the highly-cultured 
imagination, inspired by genius, can appreciate. 
Between the tune whistled by the peasant boy to 
cheer his toil while he works in the fields, or sung 
by his sister as she w^atches for his return to the 
cottage, and the divine inspirations of a Beethoven 
or a Mozart, the difference is almost infinite. Let 
the teac"her first open the way for the little stream 
of love for the beautiful to come up from the in- 
fantile heart, and then lead it gently on until it 
become a rivulet, and, at last, swell into a river as 
it gushes forth from the bosom of manhood. 

3. Musical Execution. — Given, a well-cultured 
voice and good musical taste, and pupils are pre- 
pared to compose, arrange, or perform musical 
compositions. 

Musical execution, with respect to Yocal Music, 
consists in Composing Music, in adapting tunes and 
words to each other, and in singing. 

Composing Music is a work of high art. All the 



480 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

varied feelings that agitate the human bosom admit 
expression in tones. It is thus that Music is the 
universal language of the heart. Here can be 
applied all the laws that give beauty to Melody, 
Rhythm, Dynamics, and Harmony — the laws that 
govern the relation of sentiment, and its expression 
in tones. 

To adapt tunes to words requires a nice apprecia- 
tion both of Poetry and Music. In all serious 
Music, there must be a correspondence between the 
sentiment embodied in the words, and the sentiment 
expressed in the Music. In comic songs alone can 
unexpected contrasts be appropriately introduced; 
and, then, they must be subjected to the rules that 
elsewhere control the expression of the witty and 
the humorous. To observe these correspondences 
and create these contrasts, requires good taste and 
great skill. 

Singing is the utterance of sentiment in tones. 
Prepared, in respect to voice and taste, ready with 
tunes composed, notated, and adapted to words, 
students of Music can enjoy themselves in song, 
for this is the fruition of their and their teacher's 
lalx)rs. 

IV. The Arts in General. 

The Arts in the sense now contemplated embrace 
the whole product of man's regulated activity. The 
Sciences are what he knows, the Arts are what he 
does. Some authors have limited the meaning of 
Art to that which is produced without physical or 
social restraint — which springs from spontaneous 
iriipulses ; but here it is convenient to consider as 



THE ARTS IX GENERAL. 481 

works of Art all that men do, whether they do it 
from necessity and duty, or with the design of realiz- 
ing in a concrete form the ideals of their Reason. 

Art both precedes and follows Science in the 
order of time. Says Whewell, " In all cases the 
arts are prior to the related sciences. Art is the 
parent and not the progeny of science." And 
McCosh, "Art has in general preceded science. 
There were bleaching, and dyeing, and tanning, 
and artificers in copper and iron, before there was 
chemistry to explain the process used. Men made 
wine before there was any theory of fermentation ; 
and glass and porcelain were manufactured before 
the nature of alkalies and earths had been deter- 
mined." The same writer states numerous other 
facts to the same effect. 

On the other hand, Mill maintains that "Art ne- 
cessarily presupposes knowledge ; art, in any but 
its infant state presupposes scientific knowledge." 
James Harris states more positively that " If there 
were no theorems of science to guide the operations 
of art, there would be no art ; but if there were no 
operations of art, there might still be theorems of 
science. Therefore science is prior to art." 

Both of these views are correct. Art in its in- 
fancy precedes Science properly so called. Driven 
by necessity primitive men made rude efforts to 
provide themselves with food, clothing, shelter, and 
other conveniences before they began to philoso- 
phize. True they acted in conformity with princi- 
ples capable of being expressed in a scientific form, 
but of these they were wholly unconscious. As 
society advanced towards civilization, and the 
41 



482 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

Sciences began to be formed, their principles were 
used as a guide to Art, and finally many Arts grew 
out of the related Sciences, and could not exist 
w^ithout them. Art is therefore older than Science 
as a matter of fact and younger as a matter of logic. 
In all enlightened communities Art and Science 
advance together, giving each other mutual aid. 
Mill in referring to their reciprocal influence re- 
marks, " The relation in which rules of art stand 
to doctrines of science may be thus characterized : 
The art proposes to itself an end to be attained, 
defines the end, and hands it over to the science. 
The science receives it, considers it as a phenomenon 
or eff'ect to be studied, and having investigated its 
causes and conditions, sends it back to Art with a 
theorem of the combinations of circumstances by 
which it could be produced. Art then examines 
these combinations and circumstances, and accord- 
ing as any of them are or are not in human power, 
pronounces the end attainable or not." 

From what has been stated it is obvious that all 
the Sciences may have their related Arts. There 
are Arts connected with each of the great classes 
of knowledge as we have formed them — Arts con- 
nected with Language, the Formal Sciences, the 
Empirical Sciences, the Eational Sciences, and the 
Historical Sciences. Methods of teaching some of 
these have been referred to under the head of Ap- 
plications of the different Sciences. Of others no 
notice need be taken here ; and what remains to 
be said of all in general must be presented in a 
brief space. 



THE ARTS IN GENERAL. 483 

The Arts may be divided into two great classes, 
which may be called respectively, the Empirical 
Arts, and the Rational Arts. An Empirical Art is 
the accomplishment of an end of utility. Such an 
end is always found without oneself, and is a labor. 
A Rational Art is the realization of an ideal of 
perfection. Such an end is always found within 
oneself, and is a delight. The first class of Arts is 
dependent upon the faculties of the Sense and the 
Understanding, while the second class is based upon 
the intuitions of the Reason. The Empirical Arts 
are sometimes called the Useful Arts, and the Ra- 
tional Arts, the Fine or Liberal Arts ; but the 
terms here applied to them are deemed preferable. 

1. Instruction in the Empirical Arts. 

The Empirical Arts include all Arts that relate 
to the practical affairs of life as Agriculture, Manu- 
factures, Commerce, Mining, &c. They are the 
Arts by which w^e obtain food, clothing, houses to 
live in, facilities for travelling, and all the ordinary 
comforts of society. They constitute what is called 
business. 

In discussing the methods of teaching the Empir- 
ical Arts, it will be convenient as well as logical to 
speak : 1, of their End, or the purpose to be at- 
tained ; 2, of their Means, or the agencies to be 
employed ; 3, of their Execution, or the manner of 
doing the work. 

1. Their End. — The end of all the Empirical Arts 
is some physical or moral good — a utility. The 
farmer proposes to produce food ; the mechanic, to 



•484 INSTKUCTION IX THE AETS. 

construct houses, bridges, mills, machinery; the 
merchant to collect together and expose for sale 
various commodities which conduce to the, comfort 
of life ; the physician, to cure the sick ; the judge, 
to secure the ends of justice — all of which are 
utilities, and come within the province of the Arts 
now under consideration. 

The Empirical Arts, grow out of our necessities. 
Man must earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. 
He must labor or suiFer from hunger, the elements, 
or the attacks of wild animals. He must conquer 
nature or be crushed out of existence. Among un- 
civilized tribes, wants are comparatively few and 
easily supplied, and consequently the Arts are sim- 
ple ; but in highly enlightened communities wants 
become very numerous and complex, and the result 
is a growth of multitudes of Arts. All of them, 
however, whatever may be the stage of civilization 
in which they are produced, are prompted by w^ants 
real or supposed. If the history of every Empirical 
Art, of which we know anything, could be written, 
it would be found to have arisen from a pressure of 
circumstances. Facts appertaining to the Arts may 
liave been observed by accident, but these facts 
were always pressed by necessity into the service of 
the Arts. 

Nor is it unworthj^ of a man to labor — to engage 
in any business that will promote his own welfare 
or that of his fellow men. Our farms, and shops, 
and mills, and stores, and offices, have their place in 
the social economy. They provide for the interests 
of self, and the interests of society. The great 
world-traffic must go on. But it ousrht to be said 



THE ARTS IN- GEXEEAL. 485 

that in this country the so-called practical absorbs 
over much attention. Money-making is the beset- 
ting sin of the age. Mammon is served rather than 
God. The public cry is, "down with theories," 
"give us the practical, in business, in books, in 
teaching, in preaching." We worship banks, rail- 
roads, coal-mines, steamships, printing presses, and 
Parrott cannon. These may all tend to personal com- 
fort and national greatness ; but life has higher ends. 
The Bible asks : " Is not the life more than meat, 
and the body than raiment?" Education, is com- 
pelled to lower its standard to meet the pressing 
demand for the practical. The branches of study 
most popular are those which seem best calculated 
to make successful business men. Agricultural 
Schools, Mechanics' Institutes and Polytechnic Col- 
leges are founded and flourish. Every city boasts 
of its Mercantile College wdth hundreds of students 
whose highest ambition it seems to be to fit them- 
selves for calculating cargoes of dry-goods or for bal- 
ancing the two sides of a ledger. To the practical, 
in its proper place, no objection can be made, but 
that place is a subordinate one in a liberal scheme of 
education. God never intended this beautiful world 
to be converted into a great shop for hucksters, or 
that His temple should be profaned as of old by such 
as would make our " Father's house a house of mer- 
chandise." It is melancholy to reflect that there are 
educational theorists who estimate as of greatest 
worth that knowledge which is only capable of 
administering to the material interests of life, and 
undervalue that which is calculated to subserve the 
higher interests of man — which ennobles him here 

41* 



486 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

and fits him for the workl to come. In the words 
of Carlyle, '' An irreverent knowledge is no know- 
ledge ; may be a development of the logical or other 
handicraft faculty inward or outward, but is no cul- 
ture of the soul of man." 

The Empirical Arts have ends more or less noble, 
and the first step a student must take in acquiring 
such an Art is to obtain a definite idea of its end. 
Confusion here will vitiate the whole process, be- 
cause appropriate means of accomplishing an end 
can only be selected and fitly applied when the end 
itself is clearly known. Most of the Empirical Arts 
are practiced blindly, it is for the true teacher of 
such Arts to substitute science for guess-work. 

2. Their Means. — With its end plain before him 
the student of an Empirical Art will next need to 
seek the means of attaining it. 

Man is a maker by instinct. As the bee and the 
beaver build, so does he. In his primitive con- 
dition, he feels certain wants and tries to supply 
them by an unconscious power of adapting means 
to ends. 

Somewhat further advanced in civilization, he is 
ready to take advantage of what others have done 
by using his powers of imitation. He may imitate 
nature, or he may imitate the works of other men. 
His first imitations are those of natural objects, and 
these in turn are imitated. The largest number of 
persons who now practice the Empirical Arts are 
still imitators. Such persons are found among far- 
mers, mechanics, merchants, and professional men. 



THE ARTS IM" GENERAL. 487 

Tliey simply do what tliej see others do, hut make 
little attempt to comprehend the principles which 
ought to guide all the operations of Art. They 
may accomplish the end aimed at, hut they do it 
mechanically. 

The Empirical Arts are all based on scientific 
principles, and these principles furnish the means 
by which their ends may he surely attained. The 
farmer proposes to increase the fertility of his soil, 
Chemistry points to the means ; the engineer pro- 
poses to locate a railroad or navigate a ship, Mathe- 
matics aids him in the work ; the physician proposes 
to amputate a diseased limb. Anatomy must guide 
the operation ; and so throughout the long category. 
Farmers may fertilize theh- fields as they see others 
do it, engineers may construct railroads and navi- 
gate ships by rules wdiich they do not understand, 
physicians may amputate diseased limbs by guess ; 
but this would be false Art, quackery, and, when the 
interests of others are concerned, criminal quackery. 
What Blackstone says of one preparing for the 
practice of the legal profession, is true of one pre- 
paring for practice of any kind. "If practice be 
the wdiole he is taught, practice must also be the 
whole he will ever know ; if he be uninstructed in 
the elements and first principles upon which the 
rule of practice is founded, the least variation from 
established precedents will totally distract and be- 
wilder him." 

Each particular Art has for a basis a body of rules 
or principles derived from science. The}' sometimes 
come from one science and sometimes from several 



488 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

sciences. Surveying is an Art with a simple basis 
of Mathematics. Teaching is an Art with a com- 
plex basis, composed of principles derived from all 
the sciences relating both to matter and mind. 
Without a knowledge of the principles underlying 
an Art, the Art itself cannot be understood. Some 
skill, it is granted, may be attained by an instinctive 
adaptation of means to ends, and by imitation, but 
such skill is mechanical, not artistic. 

If what is above said is true, the teacher of Art 
must borrow from science the means of instruction 
in the Arts ; and as methods of teaching the several 
sciences have been discussed, nothing further con- 
cerning them in this connection is needed. 

3. Their Mode of Execution. — Facts show that 
there is a natural difterence among, men in their 
ability to do particular kinds of work. All men 
would not make equally good mechanics, equally 
enterprising merchants, equally skilful physicians. 
For each man there is an appropriate sphere — some- 
thing he can do better than anything else, if not 
better than anybody else. Of these differences 
education must take account. 

Ingenuity in making things can be cultivated in 
childhood. Blocks can be used in building little 
houses, towers, bridges, &c. Very beautiful models 
of objects can be made of terra cotta. A great 
variety of things can be cut from pasteboard and 
paper. Suitable tools with suitable material to work 
upon may be given to children. 

Imitation is a faculty largely used in executing 



THE ARTS IX GENERAL. 489 

all works of Art. Exclusive dependance ought not 
to be placed upon it, but, working side by aide with 
the understanding, it is a valuable auxiliary in attain- 
ing success in Art. The child should have models 
in learning to draw, write, or sing, and so in all 
other Arts. The best model, however, is a skilful 
workman. Pupils who see work well done will be 
apt to do it well ; but if the teacher be a bungler, 
his pupils will not be likely to excel him. 

The maxim, "Practice makes perfect," was de- 
signed to apply to the execution of works of Art. 
There may be a well-defined end before the mind's 
eye, the scientific principles involved in the accom- 
plishment of it may be understood, his powers of 
imitation may be active, and still, unless a pupil 
enjoy ample opportunity of practice, he will most 
likely be wanting in skill. Skill in Art is attained 
by a training rather than a teaching process. Pupils 
in our schools are probably not allowed to do enough. 
Sufiicient practice is denied them. The argument 
seems strong in favor of combining work and study. 
Knowledge applied will be remembered. It is by 
doing that character is formed. Life makes the man, 
not study. 

2. Instruction in the Rational Arts. 

The Pational Arts are the free productions of our 
ideals of perfection. A generalization of these 
ideals of perfection gives us the True, the Beautiful, 
and the Good; and the Rational Arts admit, doubt- 
less, a corresponding three-fold division. He who 



490 IXSTRUCTIOX IN THE ARTS. 

constructs a system of Philosophy or of Ethics for 
the purpose of realizing his ideas of truth or good- 
ness, is not less an Artist than one who bodies forth 
his ideas of beauty on canvas, or in marble. Either 
may work for an end of utility, but in that case the 
production belongs to the Empirical, and not to the 
Rational Arts. 

In what is to be said, here, however, we shall 
mainly keep before our mind's eye the Arts which 
are expressions of the beautiful, usually called 
Fine Arts — Gardening, Architecture, Sculpture, 
Painting, Music, and Poetry; not forgetting that 
everything may be made, in the language of another, 
" The basis of an exquisite Art, for Art being uni- 
versal disdains no field of ministration however 
humble, but avouches its redeeming virtue most 
in descending to w^hat is lovely, and exalting that 
which is despised. It sheds a divine splendor over 
the meanest things, and glorifies the infinite riches 
of its resources in the exact ratio of the intrinsic 
poverty of its materials." 

What we have to say concerning methods of 
teaching the Rational Arts may be said under heads 
similar to those adopted in treating of the Empir- 
ical Arts : 1, End ; 2, Means ; 3, Execution. 

1. Their End. — The end of the Rational Arts is 
the expression of ideals of perfection in concrete 
forms — is the production of things of beauty. 

To those who use only the senses which acquaint 
them with material objects, to those who so mix up 
in the world's afi:air3 that their hearts become dead 



THE ARTS IX GENERAL. 491 

to all that is beautiful, an end that cannot be meas- 
ured by some practical standard is counted as of 
little worth. But as we rise above mere animal 
wants and are freed from their pressure, our higher 
nature begins to seek expression in forms that fitly 
embody its ideals of perfection. It is thus Angels 
act. It is thus God creates. The soul has interests 
as well as the body, and the educator ought not to 
overlook them. 

No one can be an Artist who has not born within 
him an ideal of beauty. It is this ideal which he 
paints on canvas, chisels out of marble, expresses 
in tones, or writes in measured words. It is his 
model. It is his light. It is what he struggles to 
body forth. Every work of Art is a new birth. 
iN'o thing can emanate from emptiness. Up from 
the depths of the soul comes this image, and we 
fitly call its coming inspiration, and can say no more. 

2. Their Means. — We seek now the means of 
expressing the ideals of perfection born in the soul. 

There must be a suitable body. It may be form, 
color, tone, word, but there can be no Art without 
a body. Without it, the image might exist in the 
mind, but it could not be expressed. 'Nor is the 
relation between the ideal and the body used to ex- 
press it a matter of indifference.. An Artist may 
exhibit exquisite taste in the selection of his forms, 
his colors, his tones, his words. 

There must be appropriate accessories. The 
central thought of a master of Art cannot be pene- 
trated at a glance. It , is a study, and can only be 



492 INSTRUCTION- IN THE ARTS. 

approached by steps. There must be an adjustment 
of surrounding details each co-operating to heighten 
the general effect, or to make more impressive the 
main design. 

There must be a knowledge of scientific principles. 
An Artist cannot dispense with certain principles 
. of the Rational Sciences, for from this source he 
•^must draw all his knowledge concerning the pure 
ideas under whose inspiration he works and the 
criteria by which he judges in matters of taste. 
All the rules of Art and canons of criticism are 
the deductions of Rational Science. Artists are 
aided, too, by a knowledge of the Empirical Sci- 
ences. The Architect needs to know the strength 
of materials and the laws of mechanics ; the Sculp- 
tor should understand Anatomy ; the Painter, the 
properties of pigments and the effects of light and 
shade ; and the Musician the laws of Harmony. 

There must be genius. Rules of Art do not 
make Artists. By long practice, men can become 
mechanics, imitators ; but Art requires originality, 
invention, the poet's fire, genius. 

3. Their Mode of Execution. — Young Artists 
usually seek the studio or the shop of some famous 
master of the Art they wish to acquire, that they 
may study his style and imitate his models. For 
the same purpose they visit collections of pictures, 
galleries of statues, concerts and rehearsals, and 
study poems and compositions. This is all very 
well, but it can never supply the want of genius or 
of acquaintance with the works of nature. Per- 



THE ARTS IN" GENERAL * 493 

haps, something has been lost to Art by the practice 
of imitating the style of the masters. All men can 
work in themselves better than out of themselves. 
No Artist can execute like another. All attempts 
to do it will prove failures. Each must be himself 
or nothing. A work of Art is a growth, the vital 
force of which exists in the Artist's mind, and ex- 
traneous influences may nourish but must not con- 
strain it. 

It is earnestly maintained by some that all Art is 
an imitation of nature — that it is by the study of 
nature alone that the true Artist can find instruction. 
Ruskin gives the following advice to young Artists : 
"They should go to nature in all singleness of 
heart, and walk with her laboriously and trustingly, 
having no other thought but how best to penetrate 
her meaning; rejecting nothing, selecting nothing, 
and scorning nothing." Doubtless all the elements 
of beauty are found expressed in the works of 
nature, and the first part of Ruskin's sentiment is 
worthy of acceptation, that young Artists " should 
go to nature in all singleness of heart, and walk 
with her laboriously and trustingly." But Art is 
not simply an imitation of nature. The grapes 
painted by Zeuxis that the birds came and pecked at, 
were a work of high Art, but there is a higher. 
The Artist has an ideal of beauty in his own mind, 
the presence of beautiful objects is necessary for its 
manifestation, but when manifested it becomes a 
criterion by which nature herself can be criticised. 
The capacity of conceiving the beautiful exists in 
every mind; it needs only that a spark from the 



494 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

outer world should light it up, and all things he- 
come illuminated in its blaze. Cousin quotes Plato 
as follows : " The artist, who, with eye fixed upon 
the immutable being, and using such a model, repro- 
duces its idea and its excellence, cannot fail to 
produce a whole whose beauty is complete, whilst 
he who fixes his eye upon what is transitory, with 
this perishable model will make nothing beautiful." 
And Cicero, to the same effect : " Phidias, that great 
artist, when he made the form of Jupiter or Minerva, 
did not contemplate a model a resemblance of 
which he would express ; but in the depth of his 
soul resided a perfect type of beauty, upon which 
he fixed his look, which guided his hand and his 
art." God gave man Eeason ; and the word of the 
Reason becomes the flesh of Art, the latter only 
finds its nourishment on earth, the former looks to 
Heaven for its inspiration. 

Success in Art is not likely to be reached without 
much practice in efforts to express the ideal. A 
divine image may struggle for utterance in the soul, 
nature may be full of forms, colors, sounds, motions, 
symbols suited as a body to its expression, but to 
free the one by finding the other generally requires 
practice and patience. The Sculptor may see his 
ideal in the rough block of marble before him, but 
how many the trials, how great the toil, before the 
breath of beauty is breathed into the dead stone. 
The Painter may see his ideal on the dull canvas, 
but tired hand and aching head are his before that 
canvas will speak like a voice from Heaven to listen- 
ing worshippers. Fairer ideals dance before the 



THE ARTS IN GENERAL. 495 

Poet's imagination than he has ever been able to 
clothe in the drapery of words, and richer sympho- 
nies swell in the ear of the Musician than were ever 
sung save upon the harps of angels. From this 
cause, a true Artist is seldom satisfied with his pro- 
ductions. He feels capable of more than he has 
accomplished. More perfect ideals dazzle him with 
their beauty, and seem to challenge his powers of 
expression. Fired with poetic frenzy, he works and 
works on, with chisel, with pencil, with pen, but to 
find repeated, at the end of every struggle, the same 
longing to touch that higher beauty which still lies 
beyond his reach. 

It may be in place to say here, that all true Art is 
pure and truthful. Out of the idea of the beautiful 
nothing unchaste or false could come, for otherwise 
the child would destroy the parent. All the Arts 
have been turned to base uses, as sin dragged down 
the angels from Heaven, but their mission is to 
promote virtue among men. From a love of the 
beautiful to a love of the good there is but a single 
step. 

In the highest sense, Art is universal in its end. 
It aims to dignify all that is low, to beautify all that is 
deformed, to make all labor a delight, to lift up the 
world from sin and ignorance to holiness and light. 
Says Ruskin : " Remember that it is not so much 
in buying pictures, as in being pictures that you en- 
courage a noble school. The best patronage of art 
is not that which seeks for the pleasures of senti- 
ment in a vague ideality, nor for beauty of form in 
a marble image ; but that which educates your chil- 



496 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS. 

clren into living heroes, and binds down the flights 
and fondness of the heart into practical duty and 
faithful devotion." 

The highest of all Arts is the Art of living well. 
Beyond the beauty of Sculpture, or Painting, or 
Music, or Poetry, is the beauty of a well-spent life. 
Here all can be Artists. Every man can be a hero. 
Obedience to the command, " Be ye perfect even as 
your Father in Heaven is perfect," would ally man 
to God, and make earth a Paradise. 



THE END. 



3477 



